Power Games
by Darien Fawkes
Summary: Given their last battle with Xandred, the Rangers sometimes wish they had more power. Well...sometimes wishes come true!
1. Chapter 1

**Legal: **I do not own Power Rangers or the associated names, characters, events etc. Anything not covered by these rights is to be presumed to be the creation of the author.

**Rating: **T – may be some mild adult themes.

**A/N:** With the season being held back AGAIN! (Grrrr!) I have one more filler piece I had in mind that I didn't think I'd have time for. Hope you all enjoy it.

The Rangers still knew something was coming. They didn't know what, but they knew that something big was coming. Dekker's little appearance gate crashing Ji's wedding had pretty much confirmed that the more powerful Nighlocks, the ones who had been laid low by Xandred's little 'temper tantrum' in their world were recovering. Dekker had been laid low by the Rangers themselves since then, but he was just as seriously injured as any of them when he left. If he was back, they were sure it wouldn't be long until they could expect Octoroo, or Dayu, or perhaps even Serrator himself to put in an appearance.

In the meantime, all the Rangers could do was make the best of things. Ji and Brenda were more than willing to forego a honeymoon, but at Jayden's insistence, they had been sent away for a long-weekend. Ji had friends in the countryside, friends who had similar protection on their lands as the Shiba House, and so he had opted to take Brenda there, leaving the Rangers to fend for themselves.

During this time, they all kept up their training, escalating it somewhat to combat the new threat. Between their decimation at Xandred's hands, and their hard lesson in taking their power for granted at the hands of their ancestors, they were more than painfully aware of the fact that they needed something new, something else to tip the war in their favour.

Mike and Emily took a little break from their hard work, heading inside to make everyone lemonade. The weather was starting to cool, and they knew the time would come soon that training outdoors wouldn't be an option, and they would be confined to the dojo once more, so they were taking advantage of the last of the summer. Mike gathered the lemons and the sugar, while Emily got together the equipment they needed.

"Say Mike, you remember running into Reece and Matthew?" She asked him. Mike smiled.

"How could I forget?" He chuckled, coming across with the ingredients. "They couldn't stop staring at you. I guess I can't blame them being sick with jealousy."

"Well, I don't think they were the only ones." Emily said, hiding a little blush. She did find it flattering that Reece and Matthew liked her. She knew they had been an important part of Mike's life. "I saw how you looked when you heard they were running that arcade."

"It actually got me thinking about the career fair and what Ji was saying to us all." Emily told him. "You know, about thinking about the future, and what we might like to do."

"Well, I know what I want to do." He told her, sweeping her in closely, holding her softly. He kissed her cheek gently as she tried in vain to carry on making the lemonade, giggling a little.

"Mike, this is serious." Emily continued. "I was thinking, there's something I've kind of been putting off, something I think you and the guys might be able to help me with."

"What's that?" Mike asked her.

"Well, the thing is, I never...learned how to drive." She informed him. Mike just let out a little bit of a laugh, but stopped when he noticed she wasn't laughing too.

"Wait, you're serious?" He asked her.

"Well, when Serena got sick, it kind of got dropped down to the bottom of the list of priorities." Emily explained as she looked a little sheepish about her admission.

"But, you took Ji's bike that time you went to fight Dekker when he took Serena." Mike reminded her.

"Yeah, getting a ticket wasn't really the first thing on my mind." She stated. "Look, I kind of know how to drive. I used to use vehicles on the farm, but that's private property. I didn't need a licence to drive there. I just never got around to learning properly and taking a test."

"Wow, I guess I never thought about it." Mike admitted.

"The thing is, once we're married, even if we do live in the city, I'll need to be able to drive to go and see my family." She stated. "So, I was wondering..."

"Hey guys, what's the hold-up?" Kevin asked as he came in, noticing them deep in conversation, the ingredients only partially prepared. "There are some hard-working Samurai out there dying of thirst."

"Sorry, we got to talking." Emily said apologetically. "I was just saying to Mike that I never got round to getting my driving licence."

"So, neither did he." Kevin replied with a shrug.

"Dude!" Mike blurted out. Emily's face lit up hearing this, turning to face him. Mike just looked to her, before breathing a sigh.

"I guess the sword and symbol power training weren't the only things I procrastinated on." Mike mumbled. Emily just shoved him.

"And you teased ME for not learning to drive!" She called out, before suddenly thinking about it. "Wait, that's a point. In two years, I've never ONCE seen you drive. That's why isn't it?"

"Alright, so I can't drive either." Mike answered. Kevin just shrugged.

"Well, I guess I have a bit of time on my hands." He told them. "I could always spare a bit of time getting you ready for a test."

"Wait, are you sure?" Mike asked him.

"Yeah, I passed first time." Kevin told them. "Now, if you're quite finished, there's still some very thirsty Samurai out there."

"Thanks Kevin!" Mike called after him. He and Emily just looked at each other.

"I guess I never thought about how useful it might be to know how to drive." He said with a shrug. "I mean, we could visit your parents, we could take little trips on the weekends..."

"Not to mention that when we finally do...you know...start a family, it might be handy if you could get me to the hospital." Emily suggested. Mike just smiled.

"Alright, let's get this dealt with." He told her. "Then we can go online and see what we need to do to get the ball rolling."

Meanwhile, outside, Kevin was just arriving as the others were finishing up.

"So, what's the hold-up with the lemonade?" Antonio asked, mopping himself down with a towel. "Are they waiting for the lemons to grow?"

"They got distracted." Kevin told them. "Don't worry, they're minds are back on the task at hand."

"Distracted?" Terry asked, cocking an eyebrow and chuckling a little. There had been a little bit of a change of mood since the wedding. The couples had all gotten a little caught up in the emotion, and there had been one or two 'lovey-dovey' moments in the house.

"No, it was nothing like that." Kevin assured him. "They were just talking about how either of them's learned to drive yet. I just told them I'd give them lessons."

Jayden, Antonio and Terry all looked to each other, giving each other wary looks, before turning back to him.

"What?" Kevin asked them.

"Um...don't you know that the one thing you shouldn't do is teach a friend how to drive?" Antonio asked him.

"Yeah, it's a pretty stressful thing." Terry answered. "My parents outright refused and got me a professional instructor."

"But why waste that money?" Kevin asked. "I passed my test first time. If they just do as I say..."

"Kevin, you know how close Ji and I are, and even HE needed to get a professional instructor to teach me." Jayden informed him. "He tried to teach me himself, but we ended up not speaking for days."

Before he could answer, Mia came bounding in the door with a huge smile on her face. She had gone to the doctor's office for her check-up. She smiled and showed them all an x-ray.

"Well, it's official." She told them excitedly, holding up her hand. "The original Pink Samurai's back with a clean bill of health!"

"Not a moment too soon either." Terry stated, unable to stop himself taking a look at Mia's x-ray for himself to confirm what she was telling them. "It's been cool being part of the team guys, but I think we all know which Watanabe you all want for the battles to come."

He took his Samuraizer off his belt, and handed it back to Mia, who hugged him tightly, smiling broadly.

"Thank you so much for standing in." She told him as they parted. "You don't know what it means to me what you did for the team."

"It was nothing." Terry assured. "I'm just glad I could do something for you. Besides, it was pretty cool being a Ranger, even if it was only for a short time."

"So, what else is happening?" Mia asked.

"Well, when they finally get round to it, Emily and Mike are going to bring us lemonade." Antonio told her. "Oh, and your future husband has made the brilliant decision to teach them how to drive."

"You...you did?" Mia asked, looking to Kevin. He just recoiled in response.

"What is the big deal?" He asked. Mia just looked to Terry, who just nodded morosely. They remembered their experiences with their family. Mia just sighed.

"Well, it's your funeral." She answered as Emily and Mike came out, with Serena who was busy getting ready to head out to Kieran's place. She always liked to get there before Spike, Cody and Bulk to warm up and prepare her lesson for the day. Mike set a tray with a couple of pitchers of lemonade and some glasses down on the table.

"There, drinks are served as promised." Mike told them, gesturing to the drinks. "Hey Mia, you're back."

"It didn't take long, the doctor was really happy with my results." Mia told them, presenting her Samuraizer. "Look who's back in action!"

"Mia, that's great!" Emily shrieked, immediately throwing her arms around her. Mike patted her on the shoulder, but Serena wasn't quite as quick to come across to congratulate her. She was, of course, happy that her best friend was fully healed, but it did also mean one thing that she hadn't wanted to think about. Now that Mia was back in action, there was no reason for Terry to hang around. She hadn't meant to make things so difficult between them, but thinking about all that had happened in the house, she couldn't imagine why he would want to stick around. She had certainly given him more than enough reasons to think that it wasn't worth the aggravation to hang around.

"Yeah, great to have you back." Serena finally managed to say, before looking to Terry. "You did a great job."

"I did what I could." Terry answered, pouring himself some lemonade, and taking a sip, before spitting it out almost as quickly. He looked to Antonio, who had much the same reaction.

"You guys did remember to put sugar in this right?" Antonio asked. Emily and Mike just looked to each other, before backing away towards the house.

"We'll uh..." Emily began. "We'll be right back with..."

Just then, the Gap Sensor sounded, drawing all their attention. Mia just sighed.

"What do you say Terry?" Mia asked. "Do you want one more turn?"

"I think the team's had the wrong Watanabe for a while." He answered. "I think it's time for you to get back into the saddle."

"That's not a bad idea." Jayden stated, checking his Samuraizer. "The Nighlock attack's over at the ferry port."

"Go Go Samurai!" They all called out, morphing into action. "Symbol Power Horse!"

They all leapt onto horses, all except Antonio, who still had his issues with hoses and opted for a motorcycle, heading out of the Shiba House. This left Serena and Terry alone in the house. Terry looked to Serena and shrugged.

"Well, I guess that leaves us on the bench." Terry stated.

"I guess so." Serena answered. She was more than a little used to it by now. Unlike Terry, who was only ever intended to be a stand-in, she was really meant to be the Yellow Ranger. Although she didn't really regret her decision to allow Emily to stay on, seeing how much she had gained from the experience, she did know what it was like to just sit back and watch the others run off, risking their lives for the world. Although Kasamune did give her some power, she had yet to finally harness it properly. Terry saw her looking at her, and waited for a while, before speaking.

"What?" He asked her.

"I'm sorry?" Serena said in response.

"You look like you want to say something." He stated. "Well...?"

"I think it's time I was going." She rushed out, picking up her bag. She knew what she wanted to ask him, she wanted to ask him if he was going to stay now that he no longer had to take up the morpher. She knew it was already too late for him to go back to medical school this term, but she guessed he probably had a lot of other stuff he could do with his time. She just couldn't bring herself to ask, partly because she feared the answer, and partly because she still couldn't bring herself to accept that maybe, just maybe, she was starting to think that Terry meant too much to her to risk opening her heart, only to have it taken from her again.

Watching her go, Terry just shook his head in confusion.

"No matter how long I live, I'll never figure her out." He commented, before a little smile crossed his lips. That was just the way he liked it. Taking a sip of lemonade, he spat it out on the lawn.

"OK, that DEFINITELY needs sugar." He spluttered, taking it back inside. "I guess I can make do with refreshments duty."

Over at the ferry port, some moogers were attacking the workers there. The Rangers rode out onto the pier, seeing that they had fortunately gotten word to the ferries coming in from Manalua, and so they were floating out in the ocean, safe from the Nighlock attack. They quickly dismounted and rushed to the attack.

"You, get to the warehouse and lock yourselves in." Mia told some of the workers as she cut down some moogers, clearing a path for them.

"Alright, there haven't been this many in quite a while." Mike chipped in. "I think we can safely say things are heating up again."

"Check that guy out." Kevin stated, pointing down the pier at a Nighlock, who stood waiting for them.

He stood at about eight feet tall, with a large, muscular build, standing with his hands on his hips. He had a bizarrely human face, with smooth, he dared say, handsome features. A domino mask covered his nose and eye region, and he flashed a toothy grin at them. Long hair billowed out behind him, along with a cape which whipped in the wind.

"Is he...is he wearing spandex?" Antonio asked. "That is SO ripping off our look!"

"Does he think he's Captain Marvel or something?" Mike chipped in, smashing some moogers into the sea.

"You have been a thorn in the side of Octoroo's side for too long foul humans!" The Nighlock declared in a baritone voice that made all of them stop and stare.

"OK, someone DEFINITELY has watched too many superhero movies." Emily stated. "Octoroo sent this freak?"

"Fine, then we send him back!" Jayden called out, running in to attack him, swinging his Spin Sword in practiced arc. The Nighlock dodged this way and that, before catching the blade in his bare hand. Jayden just looked at him, dumbstruck.

"You think you are a match for me?" He asked. "Now, you'll find out what my true power is." He then stuck Jayden in the chest with his free hand, sending him flying the entire length of the pier, into a warehouse where he smashed through the wall.

"OK, I think we can safely say he's strong." Mike stated. The Nighlock seemed to almost take this as a challenge, grabbing Jayden's Spin-Sword in both hands, before tying it into a knot with ease.

"OK, he's definitely strong." Kevin agreed, drawing his Hydro Bow. He fired it, but before the arrows could even hit, he found the Nighlock disappearing. It appeared right behind him.

"Time for you to feel my true power." He replied, grabbing Kevin, and sending energy coursing through him. The Blue Ranger fell to the ground unconscious.

Mia, Emily, Mike and Antonio had seen enough and ran forward, all taking out their frustrations on him. The Nighlock, however, seemed to be able to avoid most of their attacks, and those he didn't, had no effect at all by the looks of things. Grabbing Antonio, he sent him tumbling backwards, energy crackling around him. Mia could barely cry out when she did the same.

Mike and Emily teamed up, powering up their Spin Swords, attacking him, but again it seemed like he didn't flinch. Grabbing them both by the throat, he just smiled. His energy flared up once more, before he threw them both down, smashing them through the pier and into the ocean.

"My work here is done!" He declared in his heroic baritone, striking another pose. "And not a moment too soon, I'm drying out. To the Netherworld!"

He flew off, disappearing from sight as Mike and Emily got to the shore, climbing out. Mike helped Emily out of the water, onto the pier.

"Are you guys alright?" Kevin asked them as he and Mia came over to help them. Mike just nodded.

"We got our bells rung pretty good, but we'll be..."

They all looked around in horror as they saw a warehouse collapsing. Realising it was the one that Jayden had been thrown into, they all started to panic.

"Jayden!" Antonio yelled as they all ran towards the rubble. He fell to his knees, beginning to struggle with the rubble, throwing some pieces aside. "Guys, we need to..."

"Jayden's fine." Mia told him.

"Mia, we..."

"No, Jayden's fine." She assured them. They all looked to her. "I just know it."

"Mia, this is no time for..."

Just then, the rubble started to move. A moment later, they all had to move as a huge section of wall toppled over, and Jayden stepped out, dusting himself off.

"I take it the Nighlock's gone." He surmised.

"Jayden..."

"When the building fell, I must have got caught in a pocket or something." Jayden told them. "So, what...?"

"Jayden...how did you do that?" Antonio asked him.

"Do what?" Jayden asked with a shrug. "I just moved a..."

His words tailed off as the others parted ways and pointed to the section of wall Jayden had just thrown off himself. It was massive, and clearly had to weigh at least a few tons. Jayden's jaw just hung open.

"Even morphed we can't do stuff like that." Emily told him. "Hell, I'd have difficulty moving that with my Symbol power."

"OK, something weird is definitely going on." Mike commented. Just then they heard some sirens.

"We'll need to figure this out back home." Jayden told them. "Come on guys, these people will be safe now."


	2. Power Lock

In the Netherworld, Octoroo was waiting on the shore of the Sanzu River for his Nighlock to return. He paced impatiently, grumbling about his lack of punctuality. He was eager to find out how the battle had gone.

He looked up, seeing the Nighlock soaring at great speed through the air, before coming to a full stop, and descending towards him slowly. Octoroo just groaned and shook his head as the creature landed before him, his chest puffed out importantly, and gave him a huge grin. He had seen more than his fair share of bizarre creatures residing in the Sanzu, but this one really was sickening. The way it emulated some form of super-hero from Earth's mythology was sickening, but given its sheer power, he was willing to overlook its eccentricities.

"Hello good citizen Octoroo!" He declared loudly, slapping Octoroo on the shoulder so hard he almost knocked the tiny Nighlock off his feet. Octoroo just glared up at him as he straightened out his robes. "I have returned as I promised!"

"I can see that you muscle-bound maniac." Octoroo snapped in response, rubbing his shoulder to ease the bruising. "Have you done as I asked Power Lock?"

Power Lock, as the Nighlock liked to be called had a unique mindset indeed. He had come into creation, modelling himself after the super-heroes of human mythology, but with one minor twist. Being a Nighlock, he viewed the Sanzu River as his 'Metropolis' so to speak. The Nighlock were his citizens, those that needed his power to protect them. Octoroo had faced quite a task convincing him to leave the Sanzu, since he tended to stay to oversee his people, but he had finally convinced him to go and avenge several 'wrongs' done to his people by the Rangers. Power Lock had done so, and with the power at his disposal, he could possibly have ended their threat altogether, but Octoroo had given him quite specific instructions on what he wanted done.

"It is done exactly as you asked good citizen!" Power Lock assured him proudly. "It is like you told me, even evil-doers can be made to see the light if given a little guidance. Perhaps they will think twice before attacking our kind again!"

"Then you can go for now." Octoroo told him. "I'll call for you again if you're needed."

"I will always answer the call to help those who need it." Power Lock told him. "You have my signal."

With that, Power Lock flew off, blurring away into the distance. Octoroo just shook his head in despair.

"Why are all the useful ones complete basket cases?" He grumbled as he headed back to the Junk.

In the Shiba House, Jayden was lying on a weight bench in the dojo, doing bench-presses. The Rangers had all seen him survive a building falling on top of him...not just surviving, but walking out with barely a scratch! He had thrown a section of wall aside that was far larger than himself like it was made of Paper Mache. They'd had to go before the authorities arrived, but needless to say, they were all eager to figure out what had happened.

As he finished another repetition, he smiled.

"Put a little more on." Jayden beckoned them. Emily and Mia just looked at each other uneasily as Kevin and Mike applied the extra weight. Terry just watched open-mouthed as Jayden went back to his reps, with seemingly no visible effort. He did about ten more reps, before stopping. "More..."

"Jayden...there is no more." Antonio told him. "We've put on the full set."

"What?" Jayden asked, a little taken aback. "That can't be right. I can barely feel a thing!"

"Check it yourself if you don't believe us dude." Mike interjected. Jayden racked the weights and sat up, turning to look at the bar on the rack. Indeed, they had applied every single weight they had to the bar. Jayden quickly added up the total in his head.

"But that's...600 lbs." Jayden gasped. "My personal best is 210!"

"And you were lifting that like it was nothing." Emily said, staring at her leader in confusion. He just nodded in agreement.

"It felt like it was nothing." Jayden told them honestly, trying to wrap his head around it. "I don't understand. Whatever that Nighlock did when he blasted me, it has to have done this to me."

"So, you're saying that the Nighlock gave him the whammy...and now he can bench-press the SUV?" Mike asked them. "He actually made Jayden stronger?"

"Don't be stupid Jayden!" Mia called out. The others all just looked at her in astonishment.

"Mia..."

"Come on, Mike was just kidding when he suggested you could lift the SUV." Mia continued. "We don't know the limits of your new strength. Let's just figure that out before you risk hurting yourself."

"Mia...Jayden never said anything about wanting to try lifting the SUV." Emily told her.

"No." Jayden chipped in, looking to Mia thoughtfully. "But when Mike suggested it, I did think about it."

"Before, when Jayden was buried, you told us he was alright." Antonio recalled. "You told us before we saw him dig himself out."

Mia realised they were right, and started to look around them, her eyes growing wide in panic. She could see their faces, and could see that none of them were talking, but she could still hear them.

"That Nighlock blasted me too." She gasped. "I...I can read minds?"

"OK, that could definitely be a bad thing." Mike stated.

"Do you think I want to be in your head?" Mia asked in response, taking a seat and holding her head in her hands. "There might be something in Ji's study; he left the key to his archives on the living-room sideboard."

"I'll get it." Emily told them, making a move to leave the room. "Here guys, I've found something in this book. I think this is the guy we..."

She looked up at the others, who were all staring at her.

"...fought." She finished. "Uh...what did I do?"

"You went into the living-room, got the key, went into Ji's archives, and got his book." Mike told her. "You did all of that in about five seconds."

"Oh." Emily replied, sinking down onto a seat. "Um...so was anyone else hit?"

"We all got blasted." Mike recalled.

"Alright, nobody leaves the house until we know what's going on." Terry told them, looking to Terry. "Serena and I are the only ones that weren't at the battle. She's at Kieran's right now, but until she gets back, just...try not to do anything until I run some tests."

As Terry went to look out some equipment, the Rangers all sat in the room, looking around each other uneasily. At least three of them now knew that as a result of the Nighlock's attack, they had new powers. It was likely only a matter of time before the others started to figure out what had happened to them. Mike just looked to Emily, smiling.

"So, Super Speed huh?" He asked. She just nodded. "Wow, I'm engaged to a female version of The Flash."

"I guess so." Emily muttered. "So, I can move at about 100 miles an hour?"

"Well, actually the distance between here and the Living Room is approximately ten metres, with the study another ten metres from that." Mike told her. "Presuming it took you at least 2 seconds to find the Nighlock archive from Ji's study, and then run back to the dojo which is approximately fifteen metres, then that means you travelled 35 metres in three seconds, which is a speed of 11.06 metres per seconds, which translates to 24.74 miles per hour, but that's still pretty fast on foot."

The others all looked around at him. Mike took a second to realise what he had just said.

"How did I know that?" He asked.

"It looks like your brain's just become a super-computer." Antonio sighed, before looking to Kevin. "So, I guess that just leaves us to figure out what we can do."

"That and figure out exactly why a Nighlock would want to deliberately want to do us a favour." Mia grumbled. She then looked to Mike, who put his arm around Emily, and sighed. "Oh, and Mike, would you please mind not doing that?"

"But we're all scared, we..." Mike's words tailed off as Mia raised her eyebrows, and he remembered her new power. She could hear what he was thinking about when he touched his fiancée. It now felt more than a little creepy, and he pulled his arm back, crossing his arms in front of his chest, pouting.

It was getting to the end of the school day, and Spike got out of his last class, finding Cody waiting for him. It was just about time for them to head to his place to train, and Bulk was due to pick them up soon.

"Spike!" Mrs Kaplan called out as she appeared in the hall, pulling on her coat. Spike just shrugged.

"Sure thing Mrs Kaplan." He replied with a shrug.

"My husband has dinner reservations, and I'm running a little late." She told him, handing him a large bunch of keys. "The janitors are changing all the locks over to a key card system over the weekend. It'll mean I won't have to carry this thing around all the time. They'll need them for the fitting, would you be a dear and give it to them?"

"Sure." Spike said as he accepted the keys. "Which one?"

"Either one, it really doesn't matter, both of them will be working on it." She told him, waving him off. Spike just held up a hand.

"Mrs. Kaplan, there's more than two janitors." He told her.

"There are." Cody confirmed. "We saw them putting things in the basement on the first day of term. There were at least four."

"Please, I do send out the pay checks. I think I know how many employees I have." Mrs. Kaplan chuckled. "Although given the number of maintenance issues around here, I could use a few more. Oh, there's Clyde now. I'll see you Monday!"

Spike just went over to Clyde, who was taking one of the door locks off with a screwdriver, presenting the keys to him.

"Mrs. Kaplan wanted me to give you these." Spike told him. Clyde just took them, putting them in the toolbox and grunted something that sounded a little like 'thanks', ignoring them.

"Say Clyde, how many Janitors are there here?" Spike asked. Clyde just sighed and looked to Spike in exasperation.

"What?" He asked.

"How many janitors are there?" Spike reiterated.

"Just me and Mr. Walters." He answered gruffly, getting back to his task. "Although he is 59, so he barely does anything, that's what I'm for."

"It's just...I saw some others on the first day of term." Spike told him. "They were helping you take stuff to the basement."

"Do you think janitors are the only people who wear coveralls?" He snapped. "They were delivery men; they were helping me with supplies. Now, I'm already losing the weekend to this, can I get back to work?"

"Sure." Spike replied. "Sorry."

With that, they both headed to the parking lot, finding Bulk waiting for them. Cody and Spike just got into the back, at which they pulled away, heading for Kieran's place for training. As they left, Spike just sighed and shook his head as he realised that he might have just aggravated Clyde needlessly. He had been meant to go to university this year, but when things turned badly, and accountants out to make some quick money lost his family's money; he had ended up right back at the High School he only graduated the year before as a janitor.

He didn't mean to make him feel any worse than he had to already. It had to be a come-down, going from expecting to go to university, to experience a whole world beyond what he had known in Panorama City, only to end up unblocking drains and changing light bulbs. The last thing he imagined he would need is someone talking to him about it, reminding him of his lot in life. He thought about going to apologise, but then thought that maybe he had already done enough. He just resolved to concentrate on his training. Maybe with a bit of time and distance, Clyde would just forget all about him.

In the school at that moment, Clyde was still fitting a lock when Mr. Walters, the other janitor walked past him, dressed in his golf gear, and carrying his clubs. He stopped by Clyde and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Well, I'm off to the course." He told him. "Remember to lock up when you're done won't you?"

"I will Mr. Walters." Clyde replied, getting up. "Hit a hole-in-one for me."

"Please, I haven't managed that in thirty two years playing this game." He chuckled. "I'll try though. See you Monday."

Clyde waited a second, just to make sure he was gone, before pulling out his cell phone and dialling.


	3. Learning the Ropes

Serena was in the yard at Kieran's place, running through a few more warm-ups ahead of her training session with her students. Bulk and Spike had been frustrating at first, but she was finding her training sessions with them really rewarding. She had always thought that the first students she would teach would be her kids, or perhaps Emily's if she'd let her, but having some time to move from student to teacher really put a lot of what she knew and had experienced into perspective.

She was good, she knew she was. She had been in enough battles, and walked away from them to know that she was good. As much as training was a good way to enhance one's skill, the only real test was actual combat. She wasn't a violent person by habit, with a few exceptions in High School straightening out some of Emily's tormentors, she had only ever really fought when she didn't have a choice, but on those occasions she had found herself to be more than capable.

The first time she took Spike and Bulk on in lessons, she realised the enormity of her task almost right away, seeing them flail about and fall over more than actually manage any real technique, but she couldn't help smiling. It reminded her of her early days, back when her mother taught her, and she seemed to spend more time on her ass or on her back than on her feet. It was the only thing that kept her from tearing her hair out in frustration trying to show them things she had perfected years before, remembering that at one time, she was just as bad.

Over time though, both of them improved drastically, and it was a victory for her. Not just because she took two completely delusional samurai wannabes and turned them into pretty competent martial artists, but because it showed her something in herself too. She finally appreciated how much she knew, and how much she had to teach. It made her feel good about herself.

When the lessons had moved to Cody's place, she was hesitant at first. She hadn't been training them when they started training them there, Emily was. She knew that like her and Emily, Cody had been training pretty much since he could walk. However, by the time she took those lessons back, she was impressed by their progress. Indeed, Spike and Cody loved training together, and while occasionally Cody would demonstrate an experience edge over Spike, she was starting to believe that it wouldn't be long before they were more or less equals.

She turned around, pulling her blow as her shinai almost smashed Kieran in the face. She hadn't heard him coming, but through training her reflexes were fast enough that she stopped the strike before it connected. Kieran just smiled at her.

"I just wanted to remind you it's almost time." He told her, putting a couple of fingers on the end of the shinai and pushing it away. Serena lowered it, before checking his watch, having removed hers for safety reasons. It was almost time for her lessons.

"Thanks." She replied as he handed her a towel, allowing her to mop her brow, before taking it back. Kieran just looked at her, almost like he was about to say something, but he just didn't. Serena knew that a lot like Kevin, Kieran placed a fair amount of stock in protocol. He was not from a noble family. If he had something to say to a noble, he would not do so without invitation. He was reluctant in some ways to even ASK for that invitation, given what happened when he imparted some 'constructive criticism' on Emily's training style, since that had earned him an earful from Mia since Emily had taken it to heart. Serena just looked to him.

"What is it Kieran?" She asked him. "You can tell me."

"There's been something different about you." He told her. "It's clearer now than it has been, but...there is something different."

"Different?" She asked him. "Would you be a little more specific?"

"You seem...happier." He offered. Serena just looked at him a little confused. "After...well...you know...even when you came back, you always had a lot of sadness about you. It was pretty obvious. But recently, you seem...happier."

Serena didn't know how to respond to that. She had heard comments like that before, but she'd always been uncertain how to take it. Kieran put a hand on her shoulder.

"It's a good thing." He told her. "It's always difficult to lose someone so important to you, but the way you've been recently, it's been a good change."

Serena knew what that change was. Even after she had come back, even after dealing with her rage and letting it go, focusing on the bigger picture rather than her own need to avenge Stephen's murder, she had always been getting by more than living. She had once overheard Emily saying that when Terry came, when they had been training together, it was the first time she could remember Serena laughing since Stephen had died. She looked up to Kieran.

"Can I ask you something?" She asked him. He just nodded.

"Of course." He replied.

"You lost your wife." She started. He just nodded.

"I lost her when Cody was still very young." He said with a little sadness.

"When you did, did you...?" She didn't know how to broach the subject. She was beginning to regret even beginning this line of enquiry, but so far, he was the only person she knew who had lost a partner. "Did you ever...you know...think about anyone else?"

"Of course." He said with a smile, pulling her in more closely. "It is a hard thing to lose someone you love so much, but that doesn't mean you should stop living."

"But...you're still..."

"I date on occasion." Kieran said, almost sounding a little like he was offended by the fact Serena was surprised to hear this. He wasn't her type, and a bit old for her, but she had to admit he was pretty attractive in his own way. "I may not have found the right one yet and Cody's always going to be my priority, but I still find women attractive. I've even had relationships that lasted a while."

"Didn't it feel...you know...wrong?" Serena asked him. He just nodded.

"It did for a while, the first time I looked at another woman and felt my heart flutter, I spent days punishing myself. I felt like I was cheating on Martha." He admitted. "But in the end, I came to accept the fact. I'll always love Martha, that will never change, but in the end, she's dead, and I know she only ever wanted what was best for me and Cody. If I found someone that meant that much to me, I know she'd probably be the first one telling me to go for it."

He then saw Serena start to turn away, like she was thinking about something. He just held her tightly.

"I take it there's someone you've been thinking of?" He asked her.

"Kind of." She admitted. Kieran just glared at her. "Alright, definitely. He drives me nuts, but he's..."

Her words tailed off and she pulled away from Kieran, he saw a bright glow coming from her pocket, and she reached into it, pulling out the octagonal power disk. It had been inert, dead for weeks now, but now it was glowing more brightly than ever. Serena just stared at it, open-mouthed.

"That...that's the power disk Stephen made isn't it?" He asked her. Serena just nodded.

"It...it hasn't shown any power in weeks!" She gasped. "It..."

"Well, they say that Power Disks take a lot of their power from the soul of the one who made them. They're tied intimately to the maker's psyche and emotions." Kieran told her. "I'm no expert, but I'd say, that Stephen's telling you something about this."

Just then, he heard a car pulling up. He saw that it was Bulk's car, and picked up Serena's bag, shoving her down the path. He knew they couldn't see the Power Disk without them having to explain it.

"I'll take their training." He told her. "Go!"

"But I want to know..."

"Figure it out at home!" He interrupted her. "GO!"

Serena noticed the car, and took to heel, running. She knew, just like Kieran that although Cody knew of the Samurai, Spike and Bulk didn't. So far, they had been kept safe by their ignorance. There was no way they could see that and not ask questions she couldn't answer. All she could do was stuff it in her bag, and run home, hoping to make some sense of what was going on.

In the Shiba House, Terry was in the study, looking through the archives on the Nighlock that had attacked, while the other Rangers trained in the yard. Although all of them wanted to know what was going on, they were also eager to test out their newfound abilities. Kevin and Antonio in particular, since they had yet to discover what they could do.

Jayden stood before a massive pile of cinder blocks. Breaking them was something he had been able to do, almost as long as he could remember. However, he wanted to see if he could back up his technique with his newfound strength. With a huge yell, he brought his fist down, driving it through seven cinder-blocks, shattering them with a satisfied look on his face. He looked to his fist, seeing minimal damage and satisfied himself that it was not merely brute strength that had allowed him to do so. If it was, he was sure to have suffered more than minor scuffs on his knuckles. He was able to channel it into his technique.

Emily blurred round in another lap of the house, while Mike clicked the stopwatch, clocking another lap. She was determined to find out exactly how fast she could go. Mike, meanwhile, was bored and while able to give due attention to clicking a stopwatch every couple of seconds, was busy reading a book. This was something that would be odd in and of itself since he was rarely to be found reading anything other than gaming magazines or Prima strategy guides unless someone else forced him to. What was even more unusual though was the speed at which he was reading, turning four or five pages in the time it took Emily to perform another lap, only a couple of seconds.

Mia was watching Kevin and Antonio sparring, taking a rest. She had been pretty successful in sparring, and was taking a break. She found that her ability to know what someone was thinking was a pretty significant advantage, since she quite literally knew what her opponent was going to do before they did it. She took a sip of water as she watched them.

Kevin spun away from Antonio, who was piling on the pressure. Kevin let out a huge yell as he launched himself into the air.

He hit Antonio with a flying-kick to the chest, sending him tumbling backwards. He sprung back to his feet, waiting for a follow-up attack, but it didn't come. He looked around, unable to see Kevin, until he heard a little chuckle.

"Hey, up here!" Kevin announced. The others all stopped what they were doing, looking up to see Kevin floating about twelve feet in the air.

"Kevin?" Mia asked. "You...you..."

"I can fly!" Kevin shrieked in delight, tumbling backwards, before righting himself.

"I'm the air Samurai! Why can't I do that?" Mia grumbled. "No fair!"

"Hey, check it out; I can swim in the air!" Kevin called out, starting to do a breast-stroke, moving forward. He stopped paddling, but kept moving forward. "Well, I guess I don't need that."

"Aw man, you get to be Superman?" Antonio complained.

"Stop complaining." Kevin chuckled. "I can't help it if I got an awesome power."

"Well, I'm still a point ahead." Antonio reminded him.

"Not for long!" Kevin answered, soaring down before anyone could protest. Antonio tried to shield himself, but instead of impact, there was nothing. Kevin just passed straight through him, like he was made of mist.

"What?" Kevin screamed. "That's cheating!"

"And flying isn't?" Antonio asked him. "Alright then blue boy, let's see what you have!"

Kevin came back down, swinging for him, but each time, his blade passed through Antonio, only for Antonio's counter to hit solidly.

"That's the match!" Antonio whooped excitedly. "Wow, this is so awesome!"

Just then, Serena came into the yard, still sweaty and tired from her run back from Kieran's place. She still couldn't keep her thoughts off the Power Disk, and didn't notice what was going on. She looked up, seeing the others.

"Guys, there's something..."

"Serena, you will not BELIEVE what's happening!" Emily screeched, skidding to a halt by her. Even Serena couldn't ignore the fact she wasn't there one second, and then was there the next. "We were attacked by a Nighlock..."

"Is it Thursday already?" Serena asked sarcastically, but looking Emily up and down. Emily just smiled, before blurring away, coming back a second later with some flowers from the yard. "Um...thanks? OK, what's going on?"

"The Nighlock that attacked us was pretty unusual." Jayden told her, grabbing one of the stone benches. He lifted it overhead with ease. "He blasted us with something...now..."

"Wait, a Nighlock blasted you and now you're the Justice League?" She asked.

"Wissen sie uber die Justice League?" Mike asked her. Serena just looked at him.

"I'm from the country, not Mars! Of course I know about the Justice League." She answered, before looking back to them. "And when the hell did Mike start speaking German?"

"I read a book." He told her proudly. "I learned German..."

"In an afternoon?" Serena asked, pinching the bridge of her nose. She started clicking her heels together. "Someone get me to hell back to Kansas."

"Guys, I found out something..." Terry never got to finish though, as a Gap Sensor sounded. Jayden checked his Samuraizer.

"The Baseball ground, mooger attack at the game." He told them.

"Great, they do awesome chilli dogs!" Emily said gleefully, bouncing with excitement. "I'll see you all there!"

"I'm right behind you!" Kevin added, morphing and flying behind her. The others just looked to each other, before heading for the SUV and driving out. Serena just threw her hands up in the air.

"I leave for a few hours and the place becomes an episode of Smallville?" She shrieked. "What the hell?"

"Serena, I think I found something about that Nighlock they fought." Terry told her. "We need to figure this out."

Serena forgot all about the Power Disk, and followed Terry inside, feeling a few butterflies in her stomach. He had referred to them as 'we', and while she knew that wasn't meant romantically, she did take one thing from it. Terry was clearly as concerned about this as she was, which could only mean one thing. He had no intention of going anywhere soon.


	4. A Price to Pay

Moogers were swarming all around the ball park, sending players, security and fans running around in a panic, screaming for their lives. Even as basic footsoldiers, moogers were more than capable of inflicting life-threatening harm on people. A little girl screamed and crossed her arms over her head as one of the fish-faced monsters brought its blade down in a destructive arc, looking to cleave her in two. There was a metallic ring, at which the girl looked up, seeing the Yellow Ranger blocking his strike.

"It's OK, I'll take this." Emily told the little girl. "Go!"

She didn't wait for a written invitation, taking off at an impressive pace. Emily meanwhile, took the mooger down with ease.

"Don't think I've forgotten you!" Emily called out, blurring past a few. "Or you, or you, or you, or you, or you..."

"Hey Emily, save some for the rest of us!" Kevin whooped as she swooped down from the heavens, scything through a dozen or so moogers in one go. Antonio, Jayden, Mia and Mike arrived through the main entrance.

A contingent of archers were aiming, but Mia already knew they were aiming.

"Watch out, archers!" She called out.

"On it!" Mike told her. He seemed to do nothing though. As they fired, loosing a volley that darkened the sky, he still did nothing...up until the last moment when he unleashed a leaf-storm.

"Mike, what the hell...?" Mia began to rant, only to watch as the arrows ended up going right back where they came from, peppering the mooger archers on the stands and destroying them. Mike just crossed his arms smugly.

"Basic mathematics." He said arrogantly.

"Whatever!" Mia groaned as she ran back into the battle.

Antonio found ploughing through the moogers even easier than usual. In short bursts, he could utilise his mastery over the light Symbol Power to move too fast for his opponents, but with his new power, that didn't matter. Even when they did swing for him, he didn't have to try and dodge, he just concentrated...and the blade passed straight through him like he wasn't even there! Before long, the fight was becoming almost embarrassing.

"Alright guys, enough of this!" Jayden stated, tearing up a concession stand. "Let's see how they are at catching!"

He threw it, at which the stand tumbled across the stadium, smashing the few remaining Moogers into oblivion. The others crowded around Jayden, taking his cue and de-morphing.

"Well, that was...awesome!" Mike called out. "Seriously, with these new powers we kick ass!"

"We kicked ass before." Kevin reminded him. "But I agree, these powers ROCK!"

"Alright guys, this battle went well." Jayden stated. They all looked at him, at which he just grinned. "Alright, it was a cake walk!"

"We still don't know..."

"Kevin, why are you always such a killjoy?" Mike interrupted the Blue Ranger. "Seriously, we've been superheroes for two years! Why not enjoy getting some fringe benefits?"

"But a Nighlock..."

"A nuighlock obviously scwewedup anb..."

"Emily...try finishing what you're eating before speaking." Jayden suggested. "What ARE you eating anyway?"

"Chilli dogs." She informed them, gulping down a mouthful. They all looked at her, seeing she had a bag in each hand, obviously having taken them from one of the stands. She just shrugged. "I was hungry!"

"Emily..."

"I was just saying, maybe that Nighlock just screwed up." She suggested. "Maybe he meant to do something bad, but ended up..."

"Ended up giving us super powers?" Mia interrupted her.

"Alright, we should take these cards as they're dealt. We have these powers, so let's make use of them while they last." Antonio suggested.

"Alright, but..." Jayden's words tailed off as he heard police sirens. "Alright, Kevin, you take the SUV. Everyone else split up and assemble back home."

He looked to them and smiled.

"It's not often we get a gift." He reminded them. "We use these powers, we finish this war in a month! Just...remember. Just like Symbol Power, don't abuse them."

They all nodded and ran off, deserting the arena before the cops showed up.

Serena just sat, watching as Terry read through a few different books. He sounded like he knew what was going on, but since he told her to come to the study, he hadn't said a word. She was starting to feel uneasy, and almost impatient.

"Terry..."

"This doesn't make sense." He told her.

"When does it ever?" Serena asked him.

"No, it REALLY doesn't make sense!" Terry told her. "I've already found the Nighlock that attacked them..."

"Alright, well let's start there!" Serena suggested. "Who is he?"

"His name's Power Lock." Terry sighed, showing her a picture. Serena just looked to it, then back to him. "Emily identified him."

"Are you serious?" Serena asked him. "A Nighlock with a Superman fetish?"

"You see the thing is, according to the archives, he modelled himself after Earth's Superheroes." He explained. "That kind of explains the Spandex I guess."

"Alright, so what...?"

"According to this, he's possibly one of the most powerful Nighlock in existence." Terry told her. "He's strong enough to shatter a mountain with one punch, fast enough to circle the globe in a minute..."

"Wait...hold up...Xandred's had a guy like that in the wings...and he hasn't used him until now?" Serena asked him. Terry shook his head.

"Our ancestors noted that Power Lock rarely ventures into the human realm." Terry informed her. "It seems the reason for that is the same reason he isn't the Lord of the Nighlock."

"Why do I get the feeling I'm going to need an aspirin?" Serena groaned, gesturing for him to continue. "Alright, why?"

"He sees himself as a superhero." Terry informed her. "He has no desire to rule, only to defend."

"Defend?" Serena asked him. "As in...defend Nighlock?"

"He kind of sees himself as Batman, and the Netherworld as his Metropolis..."

"Metropolis was Superman! Batman protected Gotham City." Serena corrected him. Terry just looked to her, at which she shrunk away. "Alright, don't tell Mike, but I was kind of a comic geek back in the day. I spent a lot of my allowance mail-ordering comic books."

"You were a geek?" He asked. Serena just hit him over the head with a scroll, reminding him they had a job in hand. "Right, the point. Basically, he patrols the Netherworld, protecting his kind, but rarely ventures out of there. He sees no need to invade the human realm..."

"Until now apparently!" Serena snapped. "So, what is he doing here?"

"Well, we HAVE kind of killed a lot of Nighlock." Terry told her. "Maybe he sees us as villains?"

"That still doesn't explain why Jayden and the others are now worthy of their own Marvel comic." Serena reminded him. "Why would he make them stronger?"

"That...um...that I don't know yet." Terry admitted, handing her a book. "Mind helping me figure that out?"

Meanwhile, in town, Mike had stopped running, and was now walking through town, heading for the bus stop. He knew if he got a bus to the town limits, then got a cab from there, it wouldn't cost much. As he walked though, he heard a screech of tires and a collision. Looking around, he saw that he was near the DMV, and that it was obviously one of the students. He chuckled. He obviously hadn't taken into account the reduced traction caused by the water on the ground from the recent..."

It was then that he got a thought. He was able to analyse and learn anything in a matter of seconds. He had already learned German in an afternoon. He remembered talking with Emily about the fact neither of them had a driving licence. Then a smirk crossed his face.

Heading inside, he found an empty window, and strolled up to it, putting down some money.

"I'd like to book a theory and practical test." He told the woman there.

"Here's the written test." She sighed. "We can..."

"I'll be back for the practical test in five minutes." He told her.

"Sir..."

"I'll be ready." He assured her, before starting to fill out his form.

Emily was walking home, still buzzing from the battle earlier. She had felt a rush of adrenaline after a battle before, but this was something else. It was like every fibre of her being was crying out for...well...she didn't know.

It was then that something else overcame her, fatigue. She suddenly felt like her arms ad legs were made of lead. She was so tired, more tired than she could ever remember while still awake. Her stomach growled, like it hadn't been satisfied in hours, and begged for sustenance. She heard some chimes and looked up, seeing an ice-cream truck.

She ran over, blurring to it with her power, ending up at the front of the cue as it stopped. The guy opened the window.

"Alright, what can I get you?" He asked her. Emily slapped a fifty down on the counter.

"Whatever that'll get me!" She replied, bouncing on the spot. "Go go go!"

The guy just took the money, shrugging, and picked up a large popcorn bucket, and started filling it with ice-cream.

Jayden was joggin back to the Shiba House, taking the opportunity to burn off some of his energy. The battle had been a little unfulfilling, especially after the Nighlock that had given them their powers hadn't bothered to show up. As he was jogging, he noticed a woman looking up into a tree and paused. Looking up, he saw a cat in the branches.

"Excuse me, is that your cat?" He asked her.

"Oh yes, he got stuck up there." She told him. "Please...!"

"I'll help get him down." Jayden said, glad he could help. Strictly speaking, it wasn't really his concern, but with his new powers, he felt like it wasn't exactly like it would take him long. He reached up, grabbing a branch, and pulled down, lowering the cat towards the old woman.

"Oh, thank you, Salem you..."

Just then, the branch snapped off in his grasp. Jayden could only watch as the tree sprang back upright. The cat wailed as it was catapulted into the distance.

"Salem!" The old lady shrieked, before looking to where Jayden had been. By then though, he was already long gone, taking to heel back to the Shiba House.

Mike pulled the car neatly to a halt at the curb, and applied the parking brake. He looked to his driving instructor with a smug grin.

"Well...this is a first!" The driving instructor told him. "In 23 years, I have never ONCE had an applicant score 100 per cent!"

"So...!" Mike said, extending a hand. The examiner just shook it.

"Kid, YOU should give ME lessons!" He replied.

Back at the Shiba House, Serena was still feeling more than a little useless as she looked through books. She wasn't dumb, not by a long shot, she just hadn't had much of a chance to progress beyond her High School education.

She couldn't help glancing towards Terry as he took sips from a thermos of cocoa. It was just one of his things. He loved cocoa, and would rarely drink tea or coffee

Looking to him, she thought about what people had been saying. He was a couple of years younger than her, indeed, he was closer to Emily's age than hers. He had a whole, bright future ahead of him, while she had found out thanks to the careers fair that she had a glittering future in fast food vending or labouring if she decided not to take on her parents' farm. Even if she was crushing on him, it was insane to think that anything could happen.

It was then that she noticed a little something and held up a hand.

"Oh...Oh...Terry!"

"What?" He asked her.

"I think you may want to take a look at this." She suggested. "One of Power Lock's abilities is the power to 'deputise' others and give them super powers."

"So, he gave the others super powers." Terry replied. "We know that already."

"Well, it isn't too specific, but it says here that those powers grow with time." Serena replied.

"Grow over time?" Terry asked. "Right, until we know what's going on, get everyone back here under strict quarantine!"

"Terry..."

"Serena, until we know what's going on, we have no idea what these powers will do to them!" Terry reminded her. "Just...help me will you?"

"Of course." Serena replied. "I'm with you."

Mia started to head into the mall on her path home. She, like the others, planned to get a cab hoe, but she figured that didn't stop her from taking a little time to do some window shopping.

"_Wow, that Asian chick has an amazing ass!"_ She heard. Looking around, she saw the guy looking at her turning away, back to who she presumed was his girlfriend. _"God, she looked over here, I hope Cindy didn't see e checking her out..."_

"_All I wanted was a Pikachu doll." _ She heard next, turning and seeing a girl walking past her _"Mommy's so mean.."_

"_That Bitch is so frigid..."_

"_That bastard is so demanding..."_

Mia stated to turn this way and that, but no matter which way she turned, all she could hear was voices, voices that were complaining, or...

"_Oh my God, this is it!"_ She heard _"Seven years and he's been to a jeweller's, this is the day...Oh my God Oh my God, he asked me...Yes Yes Yes!" _

Mia turned another way.

"_I wonder what this asshole would think if he knew what his burger was made from..."_

"_I'm so lonely, why doesn't anyone..."_

"_Where's my mommy? I want my mommy!..."_

"_Oh My God, I only turned my back for a second, I didn't think...where could he have gone...?"_

"_That movie starts in..."_

Mia started to spin around and around, but it was unrelenting. Soon, all she heard was voices, all babbling, all calling out, all at once...

She clamped her hands over her ears, but it didn't help.

"_What's that freaky...?"_

"_That lady is..."_

"_These losers are..."_

"_I really need a new belt, my pants are falling down..."_

"_God my ass is itchy, why is it only itchy when I'm in public?"_

"_Did I remember to put the lottery on?"_

"_I am SO pissed at that fucking prick...!"_

Mia felt like her head was going to explode. Collapsing to her knees, she let out a hellish scram which caused everyone on the mall to stop what they were doing and stare at her. She barely even registered this before her eyes rolled into the back of her head and she slumped into unconsciousness.


	5. Too Much?

Terry and Serena were in the Shiba House, reading through as much as they could find about Power Lock. It was always considered best to know what they were up against if they could help it, but especially when the team had already taken such a heavy beating at an enemy's hands. Power Lock had beaten them so convincingly, that he was easily one of the most powerful foes they had faced, arguably as powerful as Serrator, or possibly even Xandred. The only reason they had gotten out with their lives was because Power Lock had flown off after putting them down.

There wasn't much information on Power Lock; it was mainly speculation and rumour. It wasn't an exaggeration that he rarely left the Netherworld. So far, they could only find one account of him doing so, in order to retrieve a young Nighlock who had gotten into trouble in battle. His mentality, seeing himself as a Super Hero meant that he didn't generally go out of his way to start fights, he usually only dealt with those that threatened the Netherworld directly. Needless to say, few other than Nighlock ever went to the Netherworld by choice, and so he didn't usually have much to do with humans at all.

Serena saw the way Terry was rubbing his eyes, trying to revive them. They had been staring at pages of ancient script for some time, and he was starting to look tired. She let out a groan and put down her book.

"Alright, this is getting us nowhere." Serena told him. "Seriously, there's next to nothing about this guy."

"He doesn't go out of his way to start a ruckus on the Human World." Terry reminded her. "So, all we need to figure out is why."

"Well, the Rangers have destroyed a number of Nighlock." Serena reminded him. "Maybe he sees us as the villains."

"Well, I could go with that as a theory." Terry commented. "But that still doesn't explain why he would come here, and attack us full on...only to give the guys super powers."

"Super powers that according to you are only going to get stronger over time." Serena answered as she saw the look of frustration on Terry's face. She could tell that he was finding this whole situation just as tough to figure out what was going on. "It seems a pretty strange way to punish people who attack your kind, making them stronger."

"Unless..." Terry's words tailed off as he seemed to think about something. "This...this doesn't seem like the kind of thing Power Lock would think of. He seems more of a direct action kind of guy."

"He did lay a pretty heavy smack down on the team." She said, thinking about the accounts she had heard of the battle. "If he wanted to make a point, he could just have beaten them down and left it at that. Maybe...maybe he isn't the one who thought of this plan."

"Which makes sense." Terry surmised. "This definitely smacks of Octoroo, or Serrator."

"Serrator's got his own thing going on." Serena reminded him. "Octoroo's been the quietest lately. That still doesn't explain why..."

Just then, the phone rang. Terry went to answer it.

"Hello?" He asked. "This is Terry Watanabe, what can I...?"

"Terry, what is it?" Serena asked him. He held up a hand, and his face seemed to drop.

"Is she alright?" He asked. "Yes, of course I'll be there shortly."

He put the phone down and looked to Serena as he gathered up his jacket.

"That was the hospital. Mia collapsed in the mall." He informed her.

"She collapsed?" Serena asked him. "She seemed alright this morning."

"I think it's too much of a coincidence don't you?" Terry commented. "We need to get to the hospital and see what's going on."

"I'll call a cab." She told him, pulling out her cell phone, touching his shoulder comfortingly. "She'll be alright, I'm sure of it."

"I hope so." He answered, his voice full of concern. Serena seemed sympathetic, and was standing by him, but Terry hadn't told her everything. He had a feeling there was so much more to this than they knew. He dialled his cell phone, waiting to get Kevin on the other end.

Mia slowly regained consciousness in the hospital, finding voices coming to her before she even opened her eyes. It wasn't quite as bad as before, they voices were more distant, and there weren't as many. She looked up, seeing a doctor standing over her bed. She was checking something on Mia's chart, and Mia could already swear she heard her thinking that there didn't appear to be anything wrong with her. She groaned as she reached up to her head.

"You're awake." The doctor commented.

"I guess so." Mia grumbled. "What happened?"

"Well, we were hoping you could shed some light on that." The doctor answered honestly. "We saw a bump on your head, but that's on the back, it seems you probably got that when you collapsed."

Mia was about to say something, when she started to hear other voices. They were faint, like they were in the same room, but a reasonable distance away. She knew she wasn't really hearing voices, especially considering what she was hearing. She somehow doubted that one of the patients would be saying what he thought about his doctor out loud.

"I...um..." She stammered, trying to think.

"You seem to be really healthy pretty much every other way." The doctor told her. "Your weight seems healthy for your height, you seem well fed and hydrated, and your temperature and blood pressure are all well within acceptable range..."

"Mia!" Kevin called out as he ran into the room. By virtue of his power, he had gotten to the hospital first. He had abandoned the SUV, figuring he could get there quicker without it. Coming into the room, he arrived at his fiancée's side, taking her hand.

"Doctor, what's happening?" He asked.

"We...we really don't know." The doctor admitted. "We could run some more tests..."

"No, I think I'll be alright." Mia interrupted the doctor.

"Well, it really isn't a good sign when people lose consciousness for several minutes for no reason." The doctor reminded her. "We'd really advise..."

"I'll be fine." Mia assured him. "Just get me whatever I need to sign, and I'll be out of here."

The doctor just nodded in response. Mia could hear her thoughts, and knew she was serious about wanting to keep her in for observation, but since Mia was an adult, legally there was nothing the doctor could do to make her stay if she didn't want any further treatment. Terry and Serena arrived a moment later, and it just gave her an incredible headache. Just like Kevin, their thoughts were so fraught, so panicked, that it was like all three of them were yelling at her as loudly as they could.

"Mia..."

"Please, I'll be fine." She assured them. "Just, let me get out of here."

"Mia, you passed out." Kevin reminded her. He noticed that she seemed to be in pain as she held her head. "Mia, if something's..."

"I'll be fine if everyone stops thinking so much!" She snapped at them. They all looked at each other, before looking back to her. "I just want to go home. I'll explain everything there."

None of them were particularly convinced, but if Mia was adamant that she wanted to go home, they were sure she wouldn't be convinced otherwise. As they were about to leave, Terry decided to test his theory. He hoped he was wrong about this, but he needed to know if his suspicions were correct. He looked to Serena's backside as she left the room. Mia got up from her bed, and glared at him as he looked back to her, and the look of disgust on her face let him know that she had indeed heard.

"Terry!" She shrieked. He just held up his hands apologetically.

"We're getting you home." He assured her. "Just sit tight."

As he got outside, Serena and Kevin were waiting.

"I need to get back." Kevin told them. "I left the SUV to get here..."

"It's fine." Terry told him. "We'll get a cab."

Kevin headed off to find somewhere out of sight he could take off. As he left, Serena just looked at him.

"Terry, I know that look." She stated. "What's wrong?"

"I had a theory." Terry told her. "I'll get the cab, you start calling the others. Get them back to the Shiba House as quickly as they can come."

"Terry, you're really scaring me." Serena admitted. "What is it?"

"It was something you said. It seems odd that the Nighlock would do anything to make the team stronger." Terry told her. "Well, I think I figured it out. Power should never be easy to come by. Greatness is something that should be earned, not just handed on a plate."

"Terry, what are you...?"

"I think there's a price to pay." Terry told her. "I think that was the plan all along."

As Serena just looked a little confused, Terry pulled her in closer.

"Have you noticed how Mia seems to always read thoughts?" Terry asked her. "Well, I gave her a little test, and...I think that isn't by choice."

"Um...OK?" Serena asked him. "Meaning?"

"I don't think she can control her power." Terry told her.

"So, if she can't control her powers, then maybe the others can't either!" Serena called out, whipping out her cell phone. "OK, we definitely need to get the others back to the house. If this is true..."

"Yeah, I think it's safest if no one goes too far until we know the extent of this." Terry assured her. "If I'm right, and I pray I'm not, then this could be really bad."

A while later, back at the Shiba House, Ji was waiting as Mia, Terry and Serena got back. They were the first to arrive. Ji just sighed as he saw them.

"Sorry you had to cut the honeymoon short Ji." Terry said dejectedly. "I'm sure we'll make it up to you at some point."

"You were right to call me." Ji told them. "You are somewhat late to do so however. Mia, I'm surprised at you! You know we should..."

"I could really do without the lecture." Mia grumbled. "We got in a fight, and came out of it with a little something extra."

"The others will be coming home shortly." Ji told her. "You should go and get some rest." Mia didn't look like she was happy being lectured, but she just left the room. Ji watched her go, while Terry just shook his head.

"She knows..."

"You forget that I have been training my mental conditioning far longer than any of you, and have studied under the Wind Ninja Academy." He interrupted Terry. "I am far more adept at shielding my thoughts than you are, something which may prove important if what you believe is true."

"It is." Terry told him. "Trust me; none of the rest of us can hide anything from..."

Just then, there was a huge crash, and they all winced as Emily came tumbling down the corridor, smashing through a table which held a bonsai, scattering it everywhere. They ran over to her, finding her lying on the floor, dazed and confused.

"Emily, what happened?" Serena asked her.

"Idon'tknow,Igotyourcallandcameasquickly asIcould,and..."

"OK, hold up." Terry told her, holding up a hand. He looked around, seeing a disgusting quantity of candy, chips and other snacks scattered in all directions. He looked to Emily. "What...what's with all the food?"

"Idon'tknow,Ileftthebattle,thengotreallyhungry,thenIstartedeatingandnowIcan 'tstop!" She babbled out, scrabbling for some food. Terry just looked to Serena, who just stared at him.

"Emily, there's food in the kitchen." Terry told her. Emily got up and rushed out again, blurring past them, only to end up rebounding off the walls like a pinball. They heard some crashes from the kitchen.

"OK, she's bad enough when she moves at normal speed." Serena commented. "But what's with all the food?"

"Her speed must affect all her functions." Terry suggested. "Her metabolism must be affected. There's no way someone her size could eat this much and remain...well...her size."

Just then, they had to duck once again as the door came flying in. Jayden was standing in the doorway, looking more than a little dejected.

"Um...sorry about that." The Red Ranger told them. "I think we have a problem."

Back in the Netherworld, Octoroo watched on through a gap with a satisfied smirk. It had taken a lot of time and effort to convince Power Lock to leave the Netherworld, but he had managed to turn his thoughts with tales of all the suffering they had inflicted on helpless moogers and misguided Nighlock. He had managed to get him thinking that the Samurai Rangers were indeed sadistic, and gleeful in their persecution of his fellow Nighlock. It had been quite a task, considering the fact that all of their "crimes" had taken place in the human realm, but Octoroo was devious, and had managed to get him to believe that many of the missions the Nighlock had gone on were in fact simple missions to explain their existence and reassure the humans they were no threat.

After that, Power Lock had offered to go and teach them a lesson, but Octoroo wasn't done with them there. He knew that Power Lock had a lot of power in his own right, and could possibly beat them on his own, but he had figured, why bother? Why put in effort doing what they could accomplish all by themselves with a little assistance?

"Enjoy the next few days Rangers." He stated. "They're sure to be your last!"


	6. Terry's Theory

The other Rangers arrived back at the Shiba House, which was really the only safe option for them. The only thing Ji, Terry and Serena knew was that after Power Lock's attack was that the super powers he had given them were starting to grow, and Terry had surmised that they were now growing to a point where the Rangers were soon going to be unable to control them. In some cases, that stage had already been reached.

Mia was in her room, isolating herself as far as possible from the others. Terry had already told her about his theory, figuring there really wasn't any point trying to hide his suspicions, since she could easily hear his thoughts anyway. She had collapsed in the mall as a result of becoming overwhelmed by the combined thoughts of everyone in the building. There were dozens, maybe even hundreds of people in the mall, and all of their thoughts quickly formed into an unintelligible din, which echoed around her brain, overloading every one of her senses, to the point that eventually she simply blacked out. The next thing she knew was waking up in the hospital, which was also uncomfortable, simply because of the sheer volume of thoughts.

The Shiba House was far enough outside of town that the only people around were really the Rangers, Terry, Serena and Ji. It was still nine people, but by keeping her distance in her room, it was a little more manageable, giving her only minor headaches. Terry took in her meals, figuring that of the team, he was probably the one that had least to worry about inadvertently thinking about something they didn't want Mia to know, since she already knew pretty much all of his secrets anyway.

Jayden was sitting on a multi-gym in the dojo, feeling a little miserable by himself. He didn't want to risk what could happen if he was anywhere that wasn't built to take abuse, considering the fact that when he tried to open his front door, he had not only snapped his key, but when he took the only course of action left, trying to force it open, he had ended up almost putting the door through the other side of the house. His strength was now also completely out of control. He looked up to Ji as he came in with a plate of food for him to eat, but as Jayden reached out for it, Ji shook his head and took the chopsticks, holding it out for him. He sighed and allowed his father-figure to feed him like a child, realising that there was a very real fear what damage he could cause attempting to use eating utensils without a full control over his touch.

Serena was almost tearing her hair out in frustration with Emily. The Yellow Ranger's super-speed seemed to be taking over pretty much every one of her body's functions. She sat on a chair, her legs bouncing up and down in a blur. Emily was never one to sit still for any length of time, and got bored quickly.

"I'mhungryneedtoeat,justgoingto..."

"Emily, if you think I'm letting you near the kitchen like this, then think again!" Serena groaned, placing her hands on Emily's shoulders to forcefully remind her that she was confined to her seat, as much for her own safety as for that of their possessions. She looked to Emily, who looked thoroughly miserable with the fact that she was basically banned from moving anywhere by herself. "What do you need?"

"I'mhungryneedtoeat." Emily babbled out. It was a little hard to understand her rapid speech, but Serena was starting to get used to it. Most of what she said was to do with needing something to eat, but she was starting to catch bits and pieces of what Emily was saying anyway. Serena looked around, grabbing a bowl of fruit, and handed it to Emily.

"Here, knock yourself out." Serena told her. Emily just grabbed an apple, and stripped it to the core in less than a second, before grabbing a banana. Serena went into the other room, where Kevin, Antonio and Mike were sitting with Terry, who was still trying to figure out exactly how bad the situation would get. Mike looked to Serena.

"God help us all when all that has to come out the other end!" She complained, holding up her hands. "I still don't understand how..."

"Since her metabolism is so fast, it's burning through what she's eating a lot more efficiently." Mike told, looking at her like it was completely obvious. He wasn't showing any side-effects yet, but to keep his mind occupied, they kept giving him books to read. Currently, he was working his way through one of Terry's medical textbooks. "I imagine if we got a sample, I'd find very little..."

"OK, we are seriously NOT going to have a conversation about my sister's stool samples." Serena warned him, shuddering slightly at the thought. Terry could see how concerned she was and came across, putting his arm around her.

"She's safe for now." He reminded her. "Things might not be great right now..."

"Yeah, they're not great right now!" Kevin stated. "But...none of us were great with Symbol Power either to begin with. The first time my dad taught me a symbol, I almost killed our goldfish by emptying his bowl."

"Yeah, that's it!" Antonio interjected. "Maybe all we need is a bit more time to learn to control..."

"How much time do you think we have?" Serena asked him.

"But, nothing bad has happened to us yet." Kevin reminded her. "Maybe there is a way..."

"So, you're perfectly alright with your fiancée having to spend all her time in a room as far away from everyone as she can get so she doesn't black out again?" Terry asked him. Kevin shrunk away a little. When it was phrased like that, it did sound a little selfish. Sure, being able to fly was an awesome feeling of freedom, the same feeling he used to get when he was swimming, but Mia didn't have that. If anything, what was happening to her kept her a prisoner. "How about you Antonio, are you entirely fine with the fact that Jayden can't touch you because he's afraid if he hugs you, he'll shatter your ribcage?"

"I...um..." Antonio stammered. "I hadn't thought about it like that."

"Look, I hate to be a downer on this, I know that these powers were useful, but we have to consider the fact that they're growing at a rate beyond your understanding of them." Terry concluded. "Look, if you want to head to the dojo and try to figure out a way to control them, then feel free. In the meantime, we'll keep working on our solution."

Kevin, Mike and Antonio were about to leave, but Serena grabbed Mike, holding him back.

"Not you future brother-in-law." She warned him. Mike and Terry just looked at her a little surprised. She just shrugged. "His powers seem to have the least potential for side-effects. Don't you think that having the human super-computer around would help speed things up?"

Terry just smirked as he heard this. He grabbed Serena excitedly.

"Why didn't I think of that?" He asked her, before looking to Mike. "Alright, we're looking at the trends of how the abilities have increased in potency over time. If you'd be kind enough to..."

"This is a statistical graph plotting the level of ability shown against the time since Power Lock attacked?" Mike asked. Terry just nodded.

"Yeah." He replied. Mike just sighed and scrunched it up, throwing it away.

"It's wrong." Mike told him bluntly, before getting out a pad of graph paper. "I'll be able to draw up a more accurate graph for you. Well, graphs actually."

"Graphs?" Serena asked him.

"Power Lock didn't whammy us all at exactly the same time." Mike reminded her. "I'll need to time-check when each of us were zapped, and then I'll plot the course of our powers from there."

"Mike, we don't need..."

"Serena, maybe we should just let him handle this?" Terry suggested, seeing that Mike was already starting to scribble down some figures and equations that he didn't recognise. "In the meantime, let's make sure things don't..."

"Serena!" Antonio called from the dojo. She and Terry went to the dojo, finding Jayden, Antonio and Kevin standing around. Antonio looked completely freaked out.

"What is it?" Serena asked. Antonio reached out for a shinai, but his hand just passed through it. "Um...OK? Isn't that...?"

"I wasn't trying to pass through it!" Antonio told her. Jayden reached out, and his hand passed through Antonio's chest, all the way through to the other side. Serena did the same to his head.

"What...what's happening?" Antonio asked. Just then, Kevin started to rise off the floor, flailing his limbs wildly.

"No, no, no, no, no!" He blurted out as he rose all the way to the ceiling, only being stopped by the roof of the house.

"Let me guess, you're not doing that." Terry surmised. Kevin just looked to him in panic.

"You think?" He asked in reply. Terry just looked to Serena, jerking his head to indicate he wanted to see her in private. She followed him, joining Ji in the hall. He looked somewhat less than happy.

"I just needed to take Emily to the toilet." He informed them. "I couldn't risk her..."

"No, you definitely can't." Terry told them. "Alright, now it's clear. Their powers are growing at a rate far faster than they can possibly learn to control them."

"We already know..."

"I don't think you do." Mike interrupted. "I've plotted those graphs I was telling you about. Come with me."

They all followed him, and arrived, finding that he had indeed been working hard. He had drawn up a number of graphs, all of which had very steep inclines.

"OK, I don't know much about maths, but I do know enough about my old medical charts to know that very steep or very shallow charts are rarely good." Serena concluded. Mike nodded in agreement.

"Our powers are rising exponentially." He concluded. "Jayden was able to throw a lump of concrete off himself that weighed nearly quarter of a ton within a minute of his encounter. In our battle earlier, I saw him hit a mooger and send it nearly a thousand feet. The difference in force required for both feats..."

"Mike, could you get to the point?" Serena begged him. Mike just sighed.

"I think I know why we have these powers." He told her.

"To make you helpless." Terry concluded. "To make you unable to..."

"It's more than that." Mike told them. He directed their attention to a science set he had opened, and to a rig he had set up. It was pretty simple really, a light bulb, a resistor with a control switch, and a large battery. He turned it on, lighting up the light bulb, before reaching to the control knob.

"So, what happens when you let more power into the bulb?" He asked.

"The bulb gets brighter." Ji concluded. Mike turned the knob, and indeed the bulb got brighter.

"OK, so what's the point?" Serena asked, losing patience.

"This is what Power Lock's done." Mike told them. With that, he turned it up a lot more quickly, the bulb glowing brighter, up until there was a flash, and it went dull. They all looked to it, seeing the fuse wire blown, and a slight black char on the glass. "Too much power at once, and the bulb burns out."

"So you mean...?"

"I mean that this was deliberate." Mike told them. "I think the intention is..."

"You all end up like those light bulbs." Serena shrieked, immediately running from the room to find Emily.

"Serena, I'm on the can!" Emily screamed as Serena found her, making sure she was alright. Terry looked to Mike and Ji.

"Then I guess we don't have a choice." Terry told them. "We need to get Power Lock back, and get rid of these powers."

"But how do we do that?" Ji asked him. "What reason does Power Lock have to come back to the human realm?"

"I think I have an idea." Terry told them. "Mike, you've been to the Sanzu once before right?"

"Yeah, Dekker took me there." Mike recalled. "Humans can survive there about half an hour..."

"Can you rig up something that'll make us last a bit longer?" Terry asked him. "If you describe how you felt, we can figure out how to address most of the effects of the toxins..."

"I can probably come up with something given a little time." Mike told him. "It still doesn't explain how you plan to get Power Lock..."

"He thinks of himself as a Super Hero right?" Terry asked. Ji and Mike both nodded. "I say that it's time for us to stop thinking Captain America, and start thinking Red Skull."

"Sorry about that." Serena told them as she came back, after a slightly awkward moment with Emily. "OK, so what's the plan?"

Terry left them, getting on his jacket and heading out of the house, picking up Mia's Samuraizer.

"I'll call when I find what I'm looking for." Terry assured them. "Mike, have that rig ready when I call!"

"OK, I've definitely just missed something." Serena commented. "What just happened?"

"What happened is Terry's either had a moment of brilliance, or the dumbest idea of his life." Mike told her. "Ji, can you help me?"

Serena watched them go, and once again felt dejected, slumping down on a chair, feeling completely useless. Everyone else was figuring out what to do, how to help, and so far, there was nothing she could do to help. Once more, she was just sitting by, as helpless as she had when she was bed-ridden by sickness.

A little while later, Terry was on the highest point of the cliffs surrounding Panorama city, looking down over the edge. He smiled, recalling Serena telling him about the time Emily had fought Dekker there. The cliff's now-sheer surface was a testament to her fury, from when she had carved off a large part of it, burying Dekker under half a mountain to save her sister. He couldn't help smiling, thinking about the Yellow Rangers. Turning to the clearing, he called out.

"I'm here, I'm here alone!" He yelled as loudly as he could. "I hear you like duels; well I'm here to give you one! Show yourself!"

Dekker appeared a moment later. He looked to Terry, eyeing him up and down.

"You are but a boy..."

"I believe you were younger than me the first time you took a life." Terry stated.

"Different times I suppose." Dekker answered. "You do have power boy."

"Yeah, I've got power." Terry told him, pulling out the Samuraizer. He then dropped it. Dekker just groaned and swept some hair back with his hand.

"Do none of you Samurai just want to fight?" He asked in an exasperated tone.

"I could fight you, but I want to offer you something else instead." Terry told him. "I need a favour."

"You want to offer ME something, and yet you ask a FAVOUR?" Dekker asked. He just burst out laughing, something that seemed alien for the Cursed Warrior. In nearly three hundred years, he had never met anyone with the audacity, the cheek, the...to put it frankly...the balls to outright ask him for something while proposing that they were helping him. "By the spirits you have heart boy. I'll do you a favour. I'll hear you out. I'm morbidly curious..."

"A Nighlock has done something to Jayden and my friends." Terry interrupted him, gulping. He was trying to show courage to Dekker, to indicate he wasn't afraid, that he was confident. Inside though, he was sick to his stomach, and every muscle was all but paralysed in terror. He had no idea if his gambit would work. "His name is Power Lock."

"I am aware of him." Dekker stated. "His courage and strength are admirable. Were he not a Nighlock, and therefore unable to satisfy my hunger, I would have sought him out years ago."

"He's done something to Jayden, something that threatens to destroy him." Terry told him. "I think he's got a day, maybe a little more before he's destroyed."

"NO!" Dekker snarled. "I've waited centuries! I've seen dozens before me, and none have done what he can! I cannot..."

"Well, if you don't want him to be destroyed, I need you to take me to the Sanzu like you did with Mike." Terry told him. "I'll bring Power Lock back, and when he's destroyed, his curse will be reversed."

"I see." Dekker commented, seeing the way Terry was standing before him. He was unarmed, and seemed to have no intention of fighting, but he could sense the courage and strength within him. He could also see a look in his eyes, something that was familiar to him. He smirked.

"The way I see it, you will owe me a lot more than a duel I could simply claim myself." Dekker told him.

"What do you mean?" Terry asked him. Dekker came closer.

"The Yellow Samurai...the older one." Dekker told him. "Do you not think I know of the power she wields?"

"Serena?" Terry asked him. "But...she doesn't..."

"I have felt Kasamune's power once before." Dekker informed him. "But that Blessed Warrior would not see it through to the end."

"I'm offering you..."

"And I'm making you a counter offer." Dekker cut him off. "If you want me to do as you ask, you will give me your word. I will have my duel with the Red Ranger..."

"I already..."

"And if he doesn't get the job done, I will have the Blessed Warrior." Dekker said with a wicked smile. "Take it or leave it."

Terry felt sick to his stomach. He knew that Serena had told him she was still having problems unlocking Kasamune's full power. More than that, all he could think about was that Dekker was asking him to throw her under a bus. He wanted Terry to assure him that at some point, Serena would fight him to the death. It was bad enough thinking that he was promising Jayden would face him, but in some ways they always knew that was an inevitability that would happen, something that made that bargain easier to make. However, when he mentioned Serena, Terry wanted to tell him where he could go and shove his sword.

Unfortunately, he was in no position to bargain, something that unfortunately, Dekker had picked up on. With all the Rangers gone, he guessed that Serena could take up the Yellow Morpher again, and he could use the Pink Morpher...Ji would have the Black Morpher...but that was it. Seven Rangers had been stomped into the ground by Xandred, and without a member of the Shiba Clan to even try to use the sealing symbol, he knew that three Rangers would be slaughtered in no time.

He was disgusted with himself as he loosened his stance, bending down to pick up the Samuraizer.

"You get Jayden." He assured him, before taking a deep breath, and swallowing hard, trying not to be sick as he realised what he had to so. His heart ached, and he could only hope Serena would forgive him. "Then you get Serena. You have my word."

"Then we have an accord." Dekker said with a sick smile, shaking his hand. Terry took the gesture, but could only look at his own hand like it was diseased. What had he done? "Do what you need to."

He flipped open his Samuraizer to call Mike, his chest aching, knowing that he had just sold Serena out without her knowledge, and that he would have to tell her. All he could hope was that it was worth it.

"Mike, I've got my ride to the Sanzu." Terry told him. "Is the rig ready?"

"I'm about 94.67 per cent..."

"I'll take that as a yes." Terry sighed. "Come alone. Track my signal and bring it here."

As he hung up, Dekker took a seat on a rock, and looked to him.

"You care for..."

"Do me a favour, just...don't talk." Terry begged him. "This is hard enough as it is."


	7. An End to Power Lock

Terry sat waiting, tapping his foot impatiently as he waited for the others. It was agonising, every second felt like a year, but he still didn't have any form of release. He looked up to Dekker, who was whetting his blade on a stone.

"You are anxious." Dekker stated. "I remember being that way before a battle..."

"DO me a favour and please shut the hell up." Terry begged him a moment later, the Samurai SUV pulled up. Terry smiled to see Serena as she came into view.

"Mike said this should allow you to breathe down there." He told him As she handed over the rig, something inside her finally snapped, finally broke down. What she felt for Terry was an attraction, but it was more than just that. He alone had done everything in his power to win her over. He alone had worked his ass off, even when she made it abundantly clear she hated everything about his presence. Without him, she'd never be able to believe there could be a life beyond Stephen. "With this you should have about an hour."

Serena handed him the rig, essentially just a diver's tank with a little extra hardware, at which Dekker just shook his head. He could see the way they looked into each others' eyes, and something about it seemed so familiar.

"It's time Pink Ranger." Dekker told him. Terry morphed, then pulled off his helmet, before strapping on Mike's rig. Terry looked to Serena, lifting his sword in salute.

"Way to make it obvious" Dekker chuckled. "If you come back..."

He couldn't quite make out what Terry said in response, but he doubted it was anything complimentary. In the end, they both landed by the shore of the Sanzu River. Dekker landed on his feet, having been used to this form of travel, Terry...landed on his face. It was a hard and unforgiving landing, but he quickly got back to his feet, even ignoring Dekker's offer of a hand to help him up.

"This is..." Dekker was silenced as Terry mumbled something.

"Fine, then our bargain is fulfilled." Dekker reminded him, walking away. "Tell the Blessed Warrior to expect me...presuming you live."

Terry hated everything about this. He hated the fact he had to mae a deal with a Nighlock, he hated the fact he had to go into the Netherworld, a place he had only ever heard about in the bed-time storied his mother had told him to scare him away from it. He hated the way Dekker just walked off and disappeared, making hi wonder if he had any intention of fulfilling his side of the bargain.

He walked around a cliff, seeing some Nighlock there feasting on...well...he couldn't really tell what it was.

"That's...that's a human!" One of the Nighlock shrieked. Terry just ran to the attack, a low growl emanating in his throat.

Back at the Shiba House, Serena and Ji were doing what they to keep the others safe. Serena reluctantly went into Mia's room, placing a tray down.

"There's a sandwich there." She stated. "You..."

"Serena, can you come over here?" Mia asked. Serena looked like she'd rather swim in a septic tank than do as Mia asked, but she did as she was told. "Look, it's about Terry..."

"Yeah, he's your kid brother." Serena chuckled. "He i cute in his own way, but I'll be glad..."

"Serena, I can hear what you think." Mia reminded her coldly. Serena stopped stock still as she heard this, reminding herself of Mia's ability. "I know what you think of when by baby brother bends over. Trust me, I wish I didn't, but I know."

Serena just slumped down on the bed next to Mia. She never wanted this to happen,, she had never asked for it, but Mia had pointed out something directly even she wasn't willing to admit.

"You're in love with Terry." Mia stated. Serena just nodded in defeat. She, had fought for so long to deny it because of Stephen, because she felt like she was somehow disgracing his memory, like she was cheating on him, but she could no longer deny it. She was in love with Terry Watanabe.

"Mia, I..."

"Look, I've done everything I could think of to keep you two apart!" She stated bluntly. "I know it's no comfort, but the fact is I really care about Terry..."

"I know. Serena whispered. "So do I."

"Well...you'll also understand I want what's best for him." Mia told her. "Which..."

"Which doesn't include getting involved with a girl that barely has a High School Diploma and quit her online courses months ago." Serena sighed. "I get it, I know..."

"Serena, you aren't dumb!" Mia assured her. "Your courses..."

"What does it matter?" Serena shrieked, snapping in her direction. Mia could see that there were tears in her eyes. "Your brother's a somebody he's going places I get that!"

"Serena..."

"I'm a fucking nobody!" Serena screamed in response, sobbing as she breathed. "I've got a big bright future of flipping burgers or stacking shelves in fucking Costco to look forward to!"

Mia immediately fell silent. Serena had never told her...had never told ANY of the others about what she had picked up at the careers fair, but now he was unable to hide it. Serena honestly believed she didn't have a future. The main reason she never made a move on Terry was because she didn't think there was anything she could offer him.

"That's what you want to hear isn't it Mia? I'm a nobody!" Serena snapped. "I always have been and chancs are I always will be. Terry could do so much better than me!"

Mia was about to answer, but Serena's cell phone bleeped, indicating that now was the time to act. Mia just looked at her open-mouthed as she ran out.

"Serena..." She sighed weakly, before clutching the covers to her chest.

In the Netherworld, Terry was using all the time he had to create havoc. He was destroying everything he could find, and cutting down everyone in his path. Eventually though, he fially got what he wanted. Power Lock landed near him.

"Step away good citizen." He declared aloud as he arrived, finding Terry with his hand around a Nighlock's throat. "I will deal with this."

"You're the one I wanted to see." Terry replied. "Let's take this somewhere else though. Let's take this to the human realm?"

"You think..."

"I will come back again and again, for as long as I live to terrorize your people." Terry assured him. "Come with me, we end it tonight."

"I will end your evil!" He called out, grabbing Terry in a vice-like grip. "I WILL see an end to you!"

Ack in the mortal realm, Serena and Ji arrived outside as dirt and rock flew in all directions. Terry had bee driven head-first through the barrier between the Netherworld and the physical realm. Even then, he was still struggling to get back up. He wanted to fight, he EEDED to fight.

"You are the one who..."

Serena never even spared a thought. It all happened so quickly, she didn't see, didn't think...didn't feel anything! In one motion, she slid across the ground, snatching up Kasamune...from where, she didn't know, and blocked his blow.

She didn't block it with her blade however. Something none of them had ever seen, a sleeve of golden plates had sprouted over her right arm as she snatched up Kasamune. She had no idea where the armour had come from, or what it meant. All she knew was, at a time she was throwing herself in mortal danger, it had sprung into life for the first time she could remember.

Power Lock was bemused as he saw Ji and Serena round on him. Terry was struggling to get back to his feet.

"Now, you will know what it means to disrupt the tranquillity of the Netherworld!" He stated. "Terry Watanabe, you will..."

"Hey asshole!" Serena called out. Before he knew what was happening, his head was struck from his shoulders by Kassamune. Serena looked down on it, unable to believe what had happened. Kasamune had a power, one she didn't understand, but because of it, Power Lock had lost his first life.

Ji, Terry and Mike were all assembled in the cockpit of the Giga Zord, baring down on ower Lock in his second life.

"Uh...this is my first time in a Zord." Ji stated. "You..."

"Before he could say anything though, Terry had called forth the Shark Zord, and lahed out with it The last thing anyone knew was Power Lock exploding.

"Uh...did Terry just..."

"Ji, just try not to overthink it." Mike told him. Doubtlessly, by this time tomorrow, I won't understand it either."

"Um...guys...I really need to hurl." Emily grumbled. Mike and Ji just looked to each other and shrugged. Given how much she had eaten, no one could blame her!


	8. Terry's Deal

The following morning started out relatively quietly for the Rangers. Instead of going straight to training, they were taking a little while to get Ji ready to head back out to his friends' place. He had cut his honeymoon short to come back and help the Rangers with their Power Lock situation, and Jayden insisted that he head back out so that he could at least enjoy one more day. They had already made arrangements that he and Brenda could stay one more full day to make up for the one he had missed out on.

Ji had finished loading up the SUV, and turned back to the others, smiling to see them all assembled. They were all quiet, some feeling better than others. Emily in particular still looked more than a little ill considering how much she had eaten when her metabolism had been speeded up by Power Lock's spell. Jayden hugged Ji to see him off.

"You and Brenda have a good time alright?" Jayden told him. "Call us when you get there. The last thing we need is anything else to worry about."

"I'm sure we will." Ji assured him. "Brenda's a city girl; she really hasn't had much chance to see the countryside. She really loves it out there."

"Maybe when all this is over, we can invite you both out to our place." Serena suggested. "I mean, if she enjoys the countryside so much..."

"I'm sure she'd like that." Ji answered. "Now, if you'll excuse me, I'd really like to miss the traffic."

"Not to mention you don't want to keep the lady waiting any longer than you need to." Kevin reminded him with a little smirk.

"I would say try to stay out of trouble, but knowing all of you, that would just be taken as a challenge." Ji chuckled as he got into the vehicle and started it up. The Samurai all waved to him as he pulled away, leaving the yard. Antonio put his arm around Jayden as the vehicle disappeared into the distance.

"Well, I for one am glad that's over." Antonio announced. "I mean, having those extra powers was cool for a while, but I kind of like being able to touch you."

"Not to mention it is nice to be able to hold you back without having to worry about breaking something." Jayden agreed, walking with him towards the house.

"Well, I know I didn't have the same downsides as the rest of you, only a slight moral quandary." Mike continued, going into his wallet. He fished out his new drivers' licence, showing it to them.

"You...you used your power to get a drivers' licence?" Emily asked him. "We talked about getting them..."

Mike took it between his hands, and tore it in half. Emily just stared at him.

"But Mike..."

"The thing is, since we lost our abilities, my memory's gotten worse. A lot of the stuff I knew when I was Mr. Brainiac has gone." Mike told them, holding up the pieces. "I figured that it wouldn't be safe to risk using this if I wasn't absolutely certain that I really did know everything I needed to about driving."

"I...I guess." Emily said, seemingly a little disappointed. They had talked about getting their licences, the thought of Mike being able to drive them places was quite appealing, but she figured he had a point of not knowing if it would be safe. The last thing she wanted was for him to suddenly forget how to drive while they were on the middle of a freeway.

"Besides, if all this has taught us one thing, it's that any knowledge or power isn't something that should be just given." Mike told them. "The reason our Symbol Power's so effective is because we've spent so long learning how to use it, so we have respect for that power. If I'm meant to drive one day, then I want to learn properly. At least then, I know I'll have earned it."

"Wow, that's pretty grown-up." Kevin stated. "I never thought I'd see the day I'd hear you say something like that."

"Hey!" Mike complained.

"Seriously though Mike, I don't think I could have put it better." Jayden replied. "We all got caught up in the extra power, and didn't appreciate it until things went wrong. If there is any extra power for us out there, then we'll figure it out with time. Until then, let's just be happy with what we have."

"Speak for yourselves." Emily grumbled. "I don't know if I'll ever be able to eat again."

"Not even ice-cream?" Mia asked her. Emily noticeably balked, holding her stomach.

"Don't even mention ice-cream!" She whined. "I ate fifty dollar's worth yesterday."

"Ice-cream, ice-cream..." Mia started chanting, causing Emily to run inside to get away from her. Mike ran in after her, looking to comfort her. Mia gave Serena a little look, reminding her of their earlier conversation as Terry handed her back the Pink Samuraizer.

"Hopefully the second time's the charm." Terry laughed. "Although it was cool having one last hurrah, I think its best you take it from here."

"I don't think I could have asked for a better substitute though." Mia complimented him. "Come on Kevin, we need to get ready for training."

As the others went inside, Serena came over to Terry and put a hand on his arm. He turned to look at her.

"Terry..."

"We need to talk." They ended up staying together. Serena and Terry just laughed a little nervously. Terry just looked to Serena and gestured to her.

"You go first." He invited her. She started to shift a little nervously, trying to find something to say.

"That battle was something huh?" Serena commented. She almost kicked herself right there, that wasn't what she wanted to talk about at all. She saw the way Terry just smiled in response.

"Well, yeah, it was something." Terry replied, thinking not only about the battle, but also by what he needed to tell Serena. He still felt sick to his stomach as he recalled his meeting with Dekker. It was instrumental to the success of their mission, without him the only way for one of them to enter the Netherworld was to become a Nighlock. Since neither of them wanted to do that, Terry had no choice but to get Dekker to take him there. In the end though, Dekker had pulled a nasty gambit. Knowing that Terry was in no position to bargain, he had insisted that he would only do so if he had Terry's word that he would get something in return. He had made him promise that he would face Serena in a duel. Now, he had to tell her that he had sold her out to him.

"So, how was it being the villain for a change?" She asked him. Terry just looked at her, a little worried by what she had said. Did she already know? Had she figured out that he had to throw her into the firing line to get what they wanted? "Well, Power Lock was the Super Hero, you invaded the Netherworld, I guess to him you were the villain."

"Unfortunately un-heroic behaviour isn't exactly new to me." He sighed. Serena felt badly about her ill-chosen words.

"Terry, we all know about the Mia thing." Serena told him. "It wasn't your fault, it was Aaron..."

"That's not what I'm talking about Serena." He told her regretfully. "I didn't tell you everything about what happened with Dekker."

"Um...alright." Serena asked him. "What happened?"

"He didn't exactly offer to help." Terry told her. "Not right away anyway."

"Why do I not like the sound of that?" Serena asked him.

"I kind of had to offer him something to make him do it." Terry informed her. "He insisted he'd only take me to the Netherworld if I promised him that he'd get his duel with Jayden..."

"We all know that's going to happen at some point." Serena interrupted him with a smile, putting her arm around him comfortingly. "Jayden will understand, it's not like you promised him something he wasn't going to get one way or another anyway. You don't need to worry..."

"That's not all." Terry told her, unable to look at her. "He made me promise that if Jayden doesn't get the job done, he'd get..." He couldn't even bring himself to say it. It took a moment, but Serena remembered meeting him one time, once he realised she had Kasamune, the only sword that had ever been known to match the power of Urumasa.

"Me." She surmised. He buried his face in his hands.

"I'm sorry, I...I didn't want to." He assured her. "Please..."

"It's alright, I guess I had an inkling this was coming." She responded. Terry just looked to her, tears in his eyes as he heard her say this. There was no judgement in her voice, no disappointment, it was just acceptance. It was almost worse. He almost wished she would scream at him, call him every disgusting name she could think of, but she didn't do any of that. "I guess I just have to keep working on unlocking that power."

She looked to Terry, seeing how upset he was. She just sighed.

"Terry, we both saw what happened out there. We both saw Kasamune do...whatever it did." She reminded him. "It's close, I can feel it. I'm sure..."

She could still see how distraught he was, but there was one thing she knew. Whatever she had done, whatever had caused Kasamune's power to unleash in that moment in particular, it had happened without her thinking. It had happened when her only thought was protecting Terry. She took his hand.

"Terry, I'm going to need all the help I can get with this." She told him.

"Whatever I can do to help...I'm going nowhere." He assured her. She just smiled in response, holding him closely.

Over at Central High School, Mrs. Kaplan came into the school, finding many of the students assembled outside. She went inside, finding Clyde coming out of her office. She came over to him and smiled, seeing the new lock on her door.

"Mrs. Kaplan, the work's finished just as I promised." He replied, reaching into his pocket and pulling out a key card. "The key cards are all coded to allow the staff into every classroom, and also into any storage areas appropriate for their lessons. For example, the science teachers will be able to get into the chemical stores, but not the gym cupboards, and vice versa for the gym teachers. This key card is yours, and will let you into any room in the building."

"Have you tried...?"

"Give it a go." He told her, closing over her office door and checking it locked. Mrs. Kaplan put in her key card, triggering the lock, with a little green light, and then opened it.

"I think you'll find that much better than messing around with a massive bunch of keys." He told her. Mrs. Kaplan smiled.

"Thank you, this will make it so much easier." She told him. "Have all the other keys been...?"

"The teachers are all in the teachers' lounge, we handed out the keys already." He assured her. "Now, I have a few things to do..."

"Of course." She replied. "Thank you again for the extra work. I know giving up a weekend is never fun."

"It's alright." He assured her as his cell phone rang. "Anything I can do let me know."

As he left, he checked caller ID and answered the call.

"Alright, it's done." He told them as he went to a window to look out over the students. "Everything's set up just like I promised."

"Are you sure about the schedule?" The voice on the other side asked.

"I did everything you asked!" Clyde told him. "Everything's set."

"Then we just need to wait until first period." The guy on the other end answered. "Presuming of course the target..."

"Would you please not talk like that?" Clyde stated. "It's a kid you're talking about!"

"I promised you that everything would be alright as long as everyone stuck to the plan!" The other guy replied. "Now, is the target there?"

Clyde reluctantly looked out the window and sighed, finding the student he was looking for.

"Yes." He answered.

"Then just keep your head on straight a little longer." The other man stated. "It'll all be over soon."


	9. Class Visitors

At the Shiba House, Jayden, Kevin, Mike and Antonio were sitting around having lunch, while Emily sat a little way off, trying not to look. They had all had a few little niggles and annoying side-effects since they had lost the powers Power Lock had given them. Jayden complained of feeling weak, which was pretty understandable considering the fact that only two days previously he was capable of overturning a car by himself without breaking a sweat. Antonio had bumped into a few things by mistake, when it slipped his mind that he could no longer work through things. Emily though...she still felt ill when she even thought about eating. Mia came over, carrying a bowl of cereal.

"Come on Emily, I know it's hard, but you have to eat something." Mia said sympathetically as she presented the bowl to Emily. The Yellow Ranger turned her face away from the bowl. "Come on, you didn't eat a thing all day yesterday. I know you ate a lot, but you have to be getting hungry surely."

Emily just muttered something under her breath.

"You're not going to be much use to us if you starve to death." Mia reminded her. "Please, just a little bit."

Emily looked to it thoughtfully, trying to will herself to eat it. She was indeed getting hungry, having not eaten in a full day, but any time she looked at food, her stomach started to knot up. Mia was sympathetic, but she was worried about her.

"I'm sorry Mia, I know I'm being silly." Emily stated, taking the bowl and setting it down, looking to her. "Mike's promised me cookies, ice cream, pizza...anything I want as long as I eat it. I just...I can't think of anything that can get me out of this mood."

"You know, I think I might have an idea what might put you in a better mood." Mia told her, getting a little smile on her face. She reached to the window, opening it slightly. Emily just looked, Seeing Serena and Terry in the yard. Serena was working with Kasamune, trying to get it to respond to her once again. Emily looked back to Mia and shrugged.

"Yeah, it's Serena and Terry." Emily stated. "So?"

Mia just raised an eyebrow, and a little smirk crossed her face.

"I was able to hear what people were thinking remember?" Mia asked her. She jerked her head in the direction of the window again. Emily's mouth suddenly fell open. "It turns out you were onto something."

"You mean...?"

"Well, I know they're really into each other." Mia interrupted her. "They've not done anything about it though."

"I knew it!" Emily shrieked, causing the guys to look around. She just held up a hand. "Um...sorry, inside voice right?"

She looked back to Mia.

"So, they like each other?" Emily asked. Mia just nodded.

"I wasn't convinced before; they're both pretty...well...let's just say their relationships don't have a great track record." Mia explained. "The last thing I ever wanted was for anything they did to affect our friendship."

"Really?" Emily asked her.

"Well, you know...if things went badly, Serena's your sister and Terry's my brother..." Mia explained. "But since Power Lock laid that whammy on me, and I could hear what was going on, I guess I realised that they really do mean a lot more to each other than I thought. So I figured, maybe standing in their way wasn't the right way to go."

"So, I was right?" Emily asked with a little smirk. Looking outside, they saw Serena on the ground, with Kasamune a short distance from her, smoking as the Power Disk stopped glowing. Terry picked it up, offering her a hand to help her up. As he helped her to her feet, their hands did seem to linger for a few more seconds than was necessary, and they could see their eyes catching for a moment, before Terry handed her back her sword, bidding her to try again, offering words of encouragement.

"Just try not to rub it in." Mia chuckled as Emily picked up the cereal, and took her first mouthful in almost two days, a satisfied little smirk on her face. "Oh, and Emily, could you do me one other favour?"

"What?" She asked, gulping down the cereal.

"You know those tiny little denim shorts you love wearing so much?" Mia asked her. "Could you please throw them out? I can't look at them without remembering what Mike thinks about when he sees you wearing them."

"Why do you think I wear them?" Emily asked her with a wicked smirk. "But I'll tell you what, you admit I was right, and I'll throw them out."

"Fine, you were right." Mia stated.

"Those shorts are as good as gone." Emily said with a satisfied smirk as Mia left her to her cereal.

Over at Central High School, Spike, Vicky, Mal and Melanie were in their first period Maths class, taking notes as the teacher went through another exercise on the board. Mr. Williams was easily the most boring teacher in the entire school. It was bad enough that he taught maths, but he had a droning, monotone voice that seemed to just send anyone to sleep. Mal had once said that he was sure he could read out passages from erotic novels and still bore everyone to the point of a coma.

Spike slumped back into his chair, looking to the side and saw that even Vicky, the one who was the most enthusiastic about maths was starting to drift off. He got a goofy little smile on his face looking at her. He couldn't help thinking she was cute, even when she was just about to start drooling on her workbook.

"Mr Skulloitch?" Mr Williams called out. "Mr Skullovitch, are you still with us?"

"Are any of us?" Mal muttered under his breath. Spike just looked to the front of the class.

"I'm sorry, would you repeat the question?" Spike asked him.

"I asked if you could provide us with an answer." Mr Williams sighed, tapping the board impatiently. Spike just looked to the equation, squinting at it. He hadn't caught a word of the explanation how the formula was meant to work. It made about as much sense to him as if it had been written in Sanskrit. Spike just shook his head dejectedly.

"I'm sorry." He answered. Mr Williams just shook his head in disbelief.

"How do any of you expect to get by if you can't pay attention?" He said in a slightly louder version of his monotone voice. Even losing his temper he was boring. "Can any of you do anything useful?"

Just then, the door opened, and a couple of guys came running into the room. The class turned to stare at them, and Spike suddenly noticed something, they were armed! Seeing the guns in their hands, a few of them screamed and started to back off quickly as the men covered the room.

"Alright, everyone against the wall!" One of them called out. They were both wearing blue coveralls, but with Kevlar vests strapped over them. They had assault rifles trained on the students. Spike recognised one of them.

"Clyde?" He asked.

"We said against the wall Skullovitch!" He yelled, levelling his rifle directly at him. Spike just held up his hands and backed slowly towards the wall. "Alright, we've secured the room."

Just then, they heard the school's intercom come into life.

"Attention staff and students. We've taken control of the building." They heard a voice over the intercom state. "Every door in the building has been locked from the outside, and reprogrammed so they are only accessible by our key cards. We have also set a scrambler, so no cell phones will work within the building. In short, we have complete control of the building."

The kids all cowered in fear.

"To all those in Mr William's Maths class, as you can see we are armed, and I can assure you we know how to use these weapons." The voice continued. "We're only interested in Melanie Goodwill."

Suddenly, all the students turned to look at Melanie. Her eyes were wide in horror hearing this.

"If no one interferes, we'll be out of here in five minutes." The voice stated. Clyde slung his assault rifle over his shoulder, and pulled out a roll of duct tape. He seemed to be a little reluctant, but his partner, the other one, still had his gun trained on the students. He gestured to Melanie.

"Come over here." He said quietly. "Give me your hands."

"Melanie, no!" Vicky called out. Mal grabbed her hand, but she shook her head reluctantly.

"Please, you heard what they said." She told them. "It's me they're after."

"So you're just going to go with a bunch of gun-wielding maniacs?" Mal screamed at her. He turned to the gunmen. "What do you want with her?"

"I don't think that's any of your business!" The other gunman snapped. "Clyde, get the girl!"

Clyde beckoned Melanie to come forward. She kissed Mal, before letting go of his hand, and making her way towards Clyde. He turned her around, crossing her wrists behind her back, and started to bind them with the tape. He took her by the upper arm.

"We've got her." He said, holding his ear. It was only then that Spike noticed he had a radio earpiece. He was obviously in contact with the guy who had been using the announce system.

"Alright, we got what we came for." The gunman snarled at the others. "Stay back, we're going to lock you in, then when we're clear, we'll call the cops and tell them you're locked in. Just remember, nobody tries anything and nobody gets hurt."

"Melanie..."

"Mal, just let them go." Melanie begged him. She couldn't bear to think of anything happening to any of her friends because of her. As they turned to leave, Spike could see Mal eyeing up the rifle hanging over Clyde's shoulder. He could see what he was thinking of. He wanted to say something, but he was already too late. Mal sprang to his feet and ran for them, trying to grab the gun. He and Clyde wrestled for a moment, before the other gunman pulled out a pistol, firing a round. Mal collapsed to the ground, screaming in agony as the bullet tore through his left leg a fraction above his knee. Melanie was screaming, but Clyde held onto her, keeping her back.

"You said no one would get hurt!" He screamed at his accomplice.

"What happened?" The voice on the announce system asked. "Why am I hearing gunfire?"

"One of the kids tried to play hero!" The gunman barked into his radio, before turning to the students. "We warned you! Don't interfere and no one gets hurt!"

"We have to get out of here!" Clyde screamed. "Come on, let's just leave the kids and..."

"Don't you get it? If they heard the gunshot in here, they'll probably have heard it outside!" The gunman stated. "Someone's bound to have called the cops by now!"

"Exactly, so we have to get out of here!" Clyde reiterated.

"It's too late for that." Another said as two more men came into the room. Melanie looked to one of them, struggling to see him through her tears.

"Mr...Mr Hudson?" She asked. She recognised him from news reports about her father's fraud trial. He had been one of the most vocal opponents of his lenient sentence when he cut a deal to turn State's witness. He had even attacked her father live on camera, swearing vengeance.

"Yeah, it's me." He told her. "We were only going to take you some place out of the way, but I guess we have to make do with here."

"Mr Hudson, this is already out of control." Clyde told him. "Maybe we should just..."

"We've already got the building on lockdown." Hudson interrupted him. "We've come this far, let's see it to the end."

He looked to Mal, who was still on the floor, before gesturing to the fourth man.

"Do what you can to make sure this kid doesn't bleed to death." He instructed him. "Clyde, get the landline phone on this room reactivated. When the cops get here they'll need some way to contact us to negotiate."

Just then, they heard sirens. Hudson made his way to the window, seeing vehicles coming down the road.

"Shit, they're here already?" Clyde called out. "Oh God, this is so messed up! We should just..."

"Clyde, just shut up and stay calm!" Hudson instructed him. "We have to stick together or they'll over run us in no time flat. Now, go and re-connect that phone!"

Clyde just looked to Melanie apologetically, and left the room to do as he was told. He stopped a little way down the hall, sweating badly, and doubled over, vomiting on the floor. This wasn't meant to happen. No one was meant to get hurt, but now, they were trapped in the building, and part of a hostage situation. He could only hope that Hudson was right, and there was a way to end this without anyone else getting hurt, or ending up dead.


	10. School Siege

A few SUVs rolled into the school yard, lights still flashing. They killed the sirens and started to disembark. The police SWAT unit had been dispatched within minutes of a report of gunfire at the High School, not knowing what they would be facing. Normally when a gunshot was heard, very quickly afterwards people would start to leave the area, but since no one did, they had to presume that an armed and dangerous person was still in the school...with a bunch of kids and unarmed staff members! It was pretty much automatically taken as being a potential hostage situation.

The team disembarked, already in full armour, and armed, starting to file out to check the perimeter. Another team was arriving at the back to keep things contained. One man, the only one not wearing a helmet, stepped out of the back of a large, armoured van, taking a look up at the building. He was quite unremarkable in his physical stature, being average height, and average build. He had a smooth, bald head, and steely blue eyes, and a reasonably long, pointed nose. He took a look up at the building.

"Have central sent over those blueprints yet?" He asked. A younger team member called out from the truck.

"We're still waiting." He informed him. "Apparently there were renovations about two years ago. We're just waiting for updated files boss."

"Keep me updated." The Sergeant stated as another man came to him. He was very different. He was a lot taller, and more muscular. He was also a lot younger. He had bright, blonde hair, and blue eyes. He was dressed, like the rest of the team in coveralls, covered with high-grade Kevlar armour, and a helmet. He was carrying a Heckler and Koch MP5 submachine gun.

"Eric, we're still waiting on blueprints of the building, but have the guys look around, see what your take is on tactical options." He commanded.

"We'll check it out." Eric answered. "It's a High School, so all the kids are about 14 and upwards, so we don't have too much to worry about with less lethal."

"Fine, then get Shona..."

"She's already looking at options." Eric interrupted him. "We'll let you know what we can tell about the layout soon."

With that, he ran off. The Sergeant held out a hand, at which someone handed him a cell phone. He held it to his ear, hearing it ringing.

"Someone please pick up." He muttered.

Back in the school, Clyde, Hudson, and one of the other gunmen were still left in the classroom. Mal was still on the ground, grimacing in pain at the wound in his leg, while Mr Williams and Vicky were by his side, tending to him as best they could. One of the gunmen had tended to Mal as best he could with a first aid kit, but Vicky and Mr Williams were still concerned for him. His dressing was already showing a lot of blood, leading to fears he was still bleeding at a concerning rate. Melanie wanted to be by his side, but at Hudson's insistence, she was kept away from him, her hands still bound. All she could do was watch him suffering as they waited for something to happen. Eventually, the phone rang, at which Hudson made his way over, picking it up.

"Thank you for picking up." The Sergeant began. "My name is Sergeant David Ramsay. I'm with the Panorama Police Department's SWAT unit."

"Well, I guess this is earlier than expected, but I suppose we were going to talk soon enough Sergeant." Hudson answered. "My name is James Hudson."

"James, it's a good thing we're talking." David replied as he wrote the name down and handed it to an officer, gesturing to the truck. He didn't know if it was a genuine name or not, but a large part of negotiation was information. Anything he could find out could give him an idea of why they were there, and what it would take to end the situation without a bloodbath. "Can you tell me why we're here?"

"We just want someone to listen to us, to do what's right by us for a change, not some over-privileged asshole who wrecked people's lives."

"James, I'm going to have to ask..."

"I have the whole building locked down." Hudson interrupted him sharply. "The doors are all wired with C4. Any attempt to enter..."

"I believe you James, no one is coming in." David assured him, gesturing to his men to maintain distance. Eric did likewise. David took a deep breath.

"Before we go any further, I need to ask. A gunshot was heard from the building. Is anyone injured?"

"One of the kids tried to get a gun from one of my guys." Hudson replied. "He's...well, we only have a first aid kit, but he's still alive."

"Alright, that's good. The last thing anyone wants is to see people get hurt. Is that right?" David asked him.

"We don't have anything against anyone in here." Hudson agreed. "If no one tries anything, everyone here will get hurt."

"That's good to hear." David agreed.

"No one will get hurt?" Melanie screeched, loudly enough to be heard through the phone. "Mal's bleeding to death!"

"Shut her up!" Hudson ordered one of his accomplices.

"James..."

"Stop using my FIRST NAME!" Hudson roared. "I know all the tricks David! I know what this is! You keep using my first name, get me thinking we're friends, get me to trust you...!"

"Alright, I'm sorry; I'm just worried about what I heard." David said defensively. "Is it true? How badly is the kid hurt?"

"He got shot through the leg." Hudson told him. "There's a fair bit of blood, but I've seen worse."

"Alright, we've already agreed we don't want to see anyone hurt." David told him. "How about you send the kid out here? We have an ambulance waiting."

"Do you think I'm stupid...?"

"No, I don't think you're stupid Mr. Hudson." David replied. "If you send him out, it's a gesture of good faith. It shows us you're serious when you say you don't want anyone hurt."

"How are we meant to...?"

"There's a cart in the AV room!" Spike called out.

"Just stay there and shut...!"

"What's happening Mr Hudson?" David asked as he heard a heated exchange.

"It's nothing." Hudson answered once it had died down.

"Can you please put the phone on speaker?" He asked. "I'd like to know everyone's alright."

Hudson did as he was told.

"Is everyone alright?" David asked. He got a mumbled answer from the room. "Alright, what...?"

"There's a cart in the AV room." Spike called out, earning him another warning from the gunman, who levelled an assault rifle at him. "Look, it holds a 54" screen TV, a stereo and a DVD. It should easily be able to carry Mal."

"Look kid..."

"If we load him onto it, one person can take him out." Spike interrupted them. "Mr Williams, would you do it?"

"That sounds like a good idea." David stated. "Look, I know you don't want to risk any of your men, but if a teacher can wheel the kid out, then we can talk without worrying about Mal."

Hudson thought about it for a moment, before nodding and getting on his radio.

"There's a trolley in the AV room." He instructed his other accomplice. "Bring it here."

He then turned back to the phone.

"Alright, the kid will be brought out." He assured them. "He should be out in a couple of minutes."

"That's good to hear." David told him. "He'll be taken care of, I promise you that." He turned as an officer came to him, handing him a note, telling him they now had the blueprints of the school. David just wrote a note back telling him to get Eric and give him the schematics. "We'll not try anything, if you get him out here, we'll just continue to talk. We all just want everyone to go home safely, isn't that right?"

"Yeah, we don't need any collateral damage." Hudson replied. David's brows furrowed as he heard this. It gave him a thought, one that was uncomfortable. Just then, the other gunman came in, wheeling the cart. Spike got up, at which the other gunman trained the gun on him.

"Are you going to lift him?" Spike asked. They just stood down, allowing Spike to help Mr Williams lifting Mal onto the trolley. He cried out as he was moved, and Spike could feel the blood soaking into his shirt. He looked to Melanie, who was sobbing loudly.

"She's his girlfriend." Spike told them. "She can't do anything; think she can have a word with him?"

"Make it quick." Hudson stated. Melanie came across, leaning over him. She kissed him softly as he cradled her face with his hand.

As she got up, Spike leaned in, whispering something to him, before looking to Mr Williams.

"Well, go!" Hudson stated. Mr Williams wheeled the trolley out of the room. Spike just went back and sat down with the other students. "Alright, he's on his way out."

"That's a great start." David told him. "Now, how about we talk about why we're here?"

Back at the Shiba House, Mia came into the kitchen, finding Emily standing by the fruit bowl, a peeled banana in each hand. She sniggered to see this.

"BUSTED!" She teased her.

"Come on, I've eaten a bowl of cereal in two days." Emily reminded her.

"Well, I thought you might like to hear that our siblings have stopped training for the day." Mia told her. "The others all went out to play basketball or something. I figured maybe we could...you know...see how things were going?"

Emily just grinned brightly, before running after Mia. She found the Pink Ranger crouched by the Living Room door, gesturing to her to be quiet. Emily just crept along the corridor. One thing most of the team had learned pretty quickly was that if they wanted any form of privacy in such a crowded house, they needed to learn how to walk on wooden floors quietly. It was something Emily had mastered to a sometimes scary level. She crouched with Mia, looking into the Living Room.

Serena was sitting with her back to them, holding a bag of frozen peas over her left shoulder. They had seen that Kasamune was not giving up its secrets easily, and was certainly making her earn whatever power it would give. Terry came in a moment later, carrying a bag of frozen sweetcorn.

"I think that might need refreshed." He told her, holding out a hand. She gave him the peas to put back in the freezer, before taking the sweetcorn. Terry wasn't gone long, before he was back. He looked to her and smiled. "You did great today."

"Yeah, I did great if I was a piñata." She grumbled. "I spent more time on the mat than on my feet."

"Serena, you can't keep getting down on yourself like this." He told her. "I don't know what this sword wants, but if you don't feel like you deserve the power, maybe it won't give it to you."

"Well...maybe I don't." Serena suggested. "I mean, I've had this damned thing for about a year now!"

"Serena, nothing worth having comes easily." Terry reminded her. "Hell, I like to think I'm good, but I'm not even close to being a doctor. I know I have at least another five years..."

"That's the thing though I don't have five years!" Serena snapped at him, throwing down the sweetcorn. "The Rangers need me to figure this out, and they need it now! Dekker's already back, Dayu's likely skulking around somewhere. We already know because of that Superhero Freak Nighlock that Octoroo's back...so we can only assume Serrator isn't far behind..."

"You know, that is a heck of a lot to focus on." Terry told her, taking his hand in hers. She looked down to his hand, and then up to his face. "Maybe you need to limit that focus a little."

"I know, the sword has something to do with Dekker." She sighed. "But the rest of it..."

"Let the others deal with that." Terry told her. "I'm not saying don't help, but you have one job, and one job only. You get this working, and you deal with Dekker."

"But..."

"The first thing they teach us in medical school is you prioritise the injuries, then you treat each one in turn." Terry told her. "If you try to do everything at once, then you're just going to get mixed up, and focus goes out the window."

"You know...you really are pretty smart." Serena told him. Terry smiled.

"Wow...um...I think that's the first time you've ever complimented me." He answered. As they looked to each other, before Serena broke eye contact, looking away nervously.

"Um...sorry about that." Serena told him. "Maybe we should get changed before dinner?"

"Yeah, I guess a sweaty gi isn't exactly appealing dinner wear." Terry agreed. They both got up, heading for their respective rooms. Mia and Emily just looked to each other, completely amazed. It was obvious to anyone with eyes, except apparently Terry and Serena.

"Do we have to do everything for them?" Mia asked. Emily just nodded.

"It looks like it." Emily sighed in response.

Back at the High School, David gestured to two of his officers, who were by the front door, holding their weapons at the ready. The door opened, and they saw two armed men opening the doors, but staying in cover, while Mr Williams wheeled the trolley, carrying Mal out of the building. David could see that he was covered in blood, and that it was obviously serious. He just gestured his men to escort Mr Williams and Mal away, while the doors were slammed shut, and he presumed re-wired with explosives.

"So, we sent the kid out." Hudson told him.

"I can see that." David told him. "We're tending to him as we speak. I can't promise anything right now, but I'm sure the paramedics will help him."

"Alright, so you asked why we're here?" Hudson asked him. "Well, by any chance have you heard of David Goodwill?"

"The accountant? Yeah, I've heard of him." David assured him. "A lot of people are very angry with him..."

"His daughter is a student here." Hudson informed him. "I'm sure whoever you have running a check on the students will confirm that."

David looked around, seeing the guy in the truck leaning out and nodding to confirm the detail.

"Alright, so this is about Goodwill." David surmised. "I'm guessing that some of the money he lost..."

"He didn't lose it, he gambled it away!" Hudson roared. "He gambled with money that wasn't his! He gambled with other people's lives!"

"Alright, I can tell you're upset..."

"UPSET?" Hudson screamed. "I was upset when the McDonald's drive through forgot to give me dipping sauce! This is SO much more than upset!"

"I'm sorry; I didn't mean to demean what you're going through." David said in a calm voice. "You've lost a lot, I get that. Believe me. My mortgage broker sold me a really bad deal, and when the market went bad, I ended up paying through the nose for it. I'll be paying my mortgage until I retire."

"Well at least you get to retire." Hudson grumbled. "Look, we know how this works. I think it's time we spoke face-to-face."

"You're coming...?"

"One of these kids no doubt knows how to set up one of those Skype things." Hudson told him. "Call in thirty minutes with an address for me to connect to. I'm going go a computer lab to set this up."

"I look forward to hearing from you." David replied. As Hudson hung up, he looked to one of the others. "Alright, what's going on?"

"Tactical are planning their options as we speak." Eric told him, coming over.

"Central sent this." Another officer told him, handing him a file. David checked it out.

"Alright, David Hudson...he lost a pension as a result of Goodwill, fine we have confirmation of his motive." He read. "He's former military, three tours of Afghanistan...OK, that isn't good."

"What?" The other officer asked. Eric took a look at the file.

"Most of his military record is sealed." He stated.

"So what does...?"

"That means that what he was doing out there wasn't exactly kitchen duty." Eric interrupted him. "It means he was most likely Special Forces."

"He referred to casualties as 'Collateral Damage'; I kind of figured he was military." David told them. Just then, a paramedic rushed over.

"Excuse me..."

"Look, we're kind of busy..."

"The patient, Mr Berkowitz, he asked me to give you this." The paramedic interrupted them, giving them a blood-stained note. "He said it was important."

David unravelled it, and read the contents.

"What's this?"

"At least four hostage takers, possibly more." David read. "All rooms locked, gunmen only appear to be interested in this room. Twenty students."

"He wrote a summary?" Eric asked. David held up a hand.

"All gunmen wearing military grade Kevlar vests." He continued to read. "Weapons seen, 2 M4 Carbine with under slung grenade launchers, one SPAS combat shotgun, all carrying Berettas, all carrying combat knives..."

"He got all that?" Eric asked him. David shook his head.

"The note's signed Skullovitch." He answered. He ran into the truck. "I want a name check on the surname Skullovitch! It looks like we may just have a set of eyes inside."


	11. Ji's Hobby

**A/N: **As of this week, the UK (Where I'm from) is now two episodes ahead of the US in the airing schedule of Super Samurai. I have considered carefully what I intend to do, since I am aware that many of my readers are FROM the US, I have decided not to risk spoiling, and will not fic the episodes until they air in the US. In the meantime, I will continue with my own storyline.

Far from the city, Ji and Brenda were enjoying the remainder of their honeymoon. Brenda was a city girl, who had barely gone anywhere there wasn't a Starbucks, so she genuinely loved the still and the quiet. Ji had taken her on a gentle hike into some woods. He was carrying a large backpack, which made her wonder exactly how much food he had packed.

"It's really beautiful out here." She commented.

"It is indeed." Ji agreed as he started to look around. Brenda thought this was odd, he had told her that he just wanted some fresh air, but the way he was acting, it looked like he was actually searching for something.

"Um...can I help you?" She asked him. "It looks like you're looking for something."

"I am." He said with a smile. He veered off the path a little way, and started to inspect a large rock set into an embankment. Brenda just looked at him a little curiously.

"Ji, what are you doing?" She asked him.

"Well, it has been a long time since I had the opportunity to take part in my hobby." He told her. He placed down the backpack, and reached inside, pulling out a curious looking too. It was clearly a hammer, though it had a square face, while the opposite end tapered into almost a flat, wide chisel. Brenda watched as he used the chisel end to start marking a line on the rock.

"Isn't playing around with rocks and dirt Serena and Emily's thing?" She asked him. Ji just turned to look at her, smiling.

"This isn't playing." He informed her, before turning the hammer around. He tapped the rock a couple of times, before with a hard blow, the rock split in two. As he picked up a piece of it, he showed it to Brenda. Inside, there were a few little purple crystals.

"That...that's beautiful." She commented. "Is that amethyst?"

"Very good." He said, impressed that she recognised it. "Geology has always been an interest of mine. I just haven't had much chance to go out in the last couple of years."

"I guess all those Nighlock running around have kept you and Jayden pretty busy." She commented. Ji chipped off a little piece of amethyst, and put it into a plastic bag, before putting it into his backpack.

"So, you go around breaking up rocks for fun?" She teased him. "You know, they used to make prisoners do that as a punishment."

"I've just always been fascinated by how the Earth formed over millions of years." He told her. He spotted a small, flat stone a little way off, and picked it up, inspecting it before showing it to her. "Like this for example."

"Ji, it's a stone." She said, seemingly unimpressed. He pointed to a few lines on it.

"You see these markings?" He asked her. "The way they almost seem to be layering up? This stone is what's called sedimentary rock. It formed over many years by layers and layers of mud washing across it, building up in layers. As it dries out, it forms rock."

"Wow." She commented, trying to feign some form of interest. "So, how long does this take?"

"Thousands, sometimes even millions of years." He told her. He put the rock into a plastic bag, before putting it into his backpack. "Come, we're quite close to the river. I believe there's some pyrite in this area."

As he started off down the path, she just shook her head, chuckling slightly, before looking to her slightly expanding stomach.

"Its official, your daddy's a dork." She said to the baby. "Sorry about that kid."

She started down the path, catching up to Ji and taking his arm, resting her head on his shoulder.

Back at the school, David went into the back of the command truck, finding his intelligence officer by the computer, pulling up records.

"Come on Benny, what do you have for me?" He asked.

"Well, we already know that Hudson's former military, well I just checked up that Clyde kid that was named in the note." Benny informed his boss. "His dad served in Afghanistan too, two tours. His second ended when an IED caught his transport. He ended up leaving his legs in the desert."

"You think he might have served with Hudson?" David asked. "It would explain why..."

"There's something else." Benny interrupted him. "His dad was sent home on a military pension, which was handled by Bright Securities."

"Bright Securities?" David asked. "Let me guess, the man who handled it was Goodwill."

"They lost the lot." Benny informed him. "Not only is it possible the kid's dad was a comrade in arms, both of them lost money because of Goodwill."

"That's motive." David sighed. "What about the other name?"

"Well, I don't know about Spike Skullovitch, the name comes up clean. No criminal charges, no juvie record, but there is something interesting. His dad is listed as Eugene Skullovitch, the entrepreneur, and he's married to one Kimberly Skullovitch, who adopted Spike when he was young."

"OK, so what does that have to do with anything?" David asked him. Benny smiled.

"Kimberly Skullovitch was a negotiator with a SWAT unit over in Stone Canyon." He informed him. "I think her son picked up a bit from her and is trying to help us."

"Well, right now we can use all the help we can get." He replied. Just then, Eric came in, pulling up the schematics of the area.

"Alright, we located the classroom they're in." Eric informed him. "The rest of the classes appear to be locked down, so far our surveillance suggests they're only in that one class."

"They're only after the girl, they told us that." David said with a nod. "So they're happy to just lock the other kids up."

"Hudson said he wanted to set up a Skype." Eric reminded him. "We located the computer lab on the top floor, on this side of the building. I have two sharpshooters positioned, one in the bank across the street, the other on the billboard, ready to line up shots. In the meantime, we're looking at how to enter. We've confirmed the doors are wired."

"Hudson should be familiar with IEDs." David agreed. "So we'll need bomb disposal."

"I've already got them working on that." Eric told him. "I've also got guys trying to find ways to the roof without raising attention. We're looking at going in hard and fast if we can't negotiate."

"Well, we still don't know what they want yet, so let's not lose hope we can't talk our way out of this." David told him.

Hudson was pacing in the classroom, while Clyde watched him nervously, keeping a hold of Melanie. The other gunmen had been sent to find the computer lab. Spike was sure by now that Mal had to have been taken to an ambulance, and more importantly, that his note would have reached the police. He held Vicky as she sat, whimpering slightly, staring at the blood on the floor. She had seen one of her best friends shot before her eyes only minutes before.

"The lab's secure." One of the gunmen stated. "We've got the windows covered, and the power and phone lines are back up. We just need to set up the link."

"Alright." He commented. "So, does anyone know how...?"

"I'll do it." Spike blurted out. They all looked around at him. "I'm the top of my class in computer science. I should be able to connect you."

"Why are you so desperate to help kid?" Hudson asked him.

"I've already seen one of my friends getting shot." Spike told him. "Melanie's my friend too. I want all of us to get out of here safely. Getting you what you want and getting you out of here quickly seems the best way to do that."

He looked to Vicky, who seemed horrified by the prospect of him going with them, but she knew that Spike was just trying to stay with Melanie. Leaving her alone with Hudson and his accomplices just seemed like a horrible idea. Spike got up and made his way towards the door. Clyde brought Melanie, and as they left, Hudson locked the door, locking the others inside.

Spike tried to analyse the situation, remembering the stories his mom taught him when he was young. Now, he had cut down the number of hostages in direct danger to just him and Melanie. Everyone else was locked in classrooms, with no armed guards as far as he knew. There were four gunmen that he had seen, and all of them were with him. He was shoved into the computer lab, where one of the monitors had been set up.

"Alright kid, link it up." One of the gunmen instructed him. Spike started up the Skype programme, and sighed.

"Call the police back." Spike told him. "I'll give them the link-up information."

In the truck, David looked around as the phone rang. He picked up the phone, taking a deep breath.

"Mr Hudson?" He asked.

"Uh...no, it's Spike." Spike answered. "Spike Skullovitch, I'm one of the students here. I'm just calling to give you the link up information."

David gestured to Benny to get out of the seat by the computer, and sat down, beginning to type in the information as Spike relayed the details.

"Spike, I believe you want to help don't you?" He asked. "Can you just answer me, is everyone alright?"

"The others are all locked up." Spike told him. "Melanie and I are..."

His voice was cut off as one of the gunmen smashed him in the face with the butt of his assault rifle, sending him tumbling out of the chair. He pointed his rifle at Spike.

"Alright kid, that's enough!" He warned him. "Against the wall!"

Spike just slid across the floor, backing into the wall. He pointed to the computer.

"Just click the icon." He told them as the computer started to chime. "It's ready."

Hudson gestured to Clyde to bring Melanie over, getting her to sit on the chair by the screen. He clicked the icon, opening up the feed.

"Alright, we've established contact." Hudson stated. "As you can see, Ms Goodwill is currently unharmed. How long she stays that way depends on whether or not we get what we want."

"Well, none of us want to see that happen Mr Hudson." David told him. He had a few notes just out of view to refer to. Now that he had Hudson's attention, he could begin negotiation. "How about you tell us what you want? Maybe we can work something out."

"I'll tell you what I want! I want my money back!" One of the gunmen screamed, waving his gun around. "But that's not going to happen because..."

"Alright, calm it down!" Hudson stated. He looked back to the screen, grabbing Melanie by the face.

"She's a beautiful girl isn't she?" He asked.

"Melanie is a beautiful girl." David agreed. "From what I can see, she also looks like a very frightened girl. Are you frightened Melanie?"

Melanie just nodded in response.

"Alright Mr Hudson, what can we do so Melanie and Spike and all their friends can go home safely?" David asked him.

"As you know, her dad screwed us over pretty badly." He informed them. "You see Clyde over there? His dad lost his legs fighting for his country. He was meant to be taken care of. Clyde here was all set to go to College, until her old man lost the money they were relying on."

He shifted a little closer.

"The DA did a deal with him. He sells out a few of his friends, and he gets a nice, cushy cell in minimum security for four years. After that, he gets to walk out and get on with his life." Hudson told him. "With good behaviour, he'll probably not even serve half of that! What kind of justice is that?"

"I can understand your frustration." David said empathetically. "I'm sure Melanie understands too."

"The way I see it, he owes us." Hudson replied. "I want the DA to take that deal, and tear it up. I want to see him get what he deserves, not this joke he gave him!"

"Well, I'll contact the DA." He stated. "I'll see what we can do about appealing against this sentence. It'll take a while, but we can..."

"Secondly, I want a film crew out here to record a transmission. I want the whole city to see what Goodwill's done, and I want them to see what happens to him." He continued.

"The news networks are on their way." He assured him. "We can link up a transmission if you want to make a statement."

"Finally, I want Goodwill." He told him. "I want him here, and I want him on camera to confess to everything he did. I want him to tell the whole city about the lives he's ruined, and I want to look him right in the eye and hear him apologise."

"That's a pretty big ask." David said, being careful not to tell him no. It would be a potentially lethal move to give him the impression that he wouldn't get what he wanted. At the moment, the only thing keeping the hostages safe was the belief that they would get what they wanted. "Prisoner transfers are a complicated thing. It'll take some time."

"I'll expect an answer in an hour." Hudson told him. "I don't want to hurt anyone, but until I see Goodwill here, his daughter and all her friends will have to answer for his crimes."

He cut off the Skype link, at which David just looked to Eric.

"I need a tactical solution and soon." David told him.

"We're working on it." Eric answered.

"There's no way we can bring Goodwill here." David stated, looking back to the monitor. "You saw him; he's serious when he says he'll take out those kids. If he'd do that, then if we send Goodwill in there, we know what he'll do."

"We can't let him execute Goodwill on national television." Eric agreed, getting onto his radio. "Alright guys, give me some good news on that roof access."

Meanwhile, inside the computer lab, Hudson looked to the other gunmen.

"Go into the hall; keep an eye on this door." He told them. They went out, leaving Clyde, Melanie and Spike alone in the room with him. Melanie looked up to him, her eyes full of terror.

"Please, let us go." She begged him. "I know my dad did a terrible thing, but I've done nothing to you."

"Unfortunately, that's not the way the world works." He said as he lowered his face to look into her eyes. "Whether we do bad things or not doesn't guarantee bad things don't happen to us. The only thing that matters is what we're willing to do about it."

"Mr Hudson?" Clyde asked, beginning to shift a little uncomfortably. "We're not going to...you know...?"

"They know what we want, it's up to them." Hudson stated.

"Please, I'm begging you!" Melanie started to sob. "I...I'll do anything..."

"I think that's quite enough out of you." He told her, tearing off some duct tape and placing it across her mouth to gag her. He looked to Spike, who held his hands up.

"I'll stay quiet." Spike stated. He saw that Clyde was uneasy; he had already heard Hudson threaten all the students. It was one thing to make the threat, but now, he was starting to worry that he would carry the threat out. The plan had been to take Melanie, and force them to bring her father to them to force his confession and apology. He didn't allow himself to believe that Hudson would go as far as to actually kill an innocent person. Hudson meanwhile, just lit up a cigar and started to smoke. Spike looked to Clyde, seeing the look on his face.

"Clyde, why are you doing this?" Spike asked him. "You know Melanie; she cheered at a lot of your games."

"Mr Hudson said we would get justice." He told Spike. "He said..."

"Clyde, I don't think you're playing by the same rules he is." Spike commented. "I remember you; you were one of the few football players that didn't make life hell for us. You can't think this is right."

"You know for keeping quiet, you're saying an awful lot." Hudson called over. Spike just fell silent. He had gagged Melanie, a bad sign in itself. He was dehumanising her, distancing himself from her so he would forget she was just a frightened sixteen year old girl. It was a dangerous step, one that increased the chances that he would carry out his threat and kill her. The only hope he had was that he would be able to talk him round, something he couldn't do if he was gagged too.

Looking to Clyde, he could swear he was even paler than before. He looked almost as terrified as Melanie. He hoped that in some way, he had reached him.

Meanwhile, back in the country, Ji and Brenda arrived by the riverbank, where Ji started looking around. Brenda watched as he leapt around the rocks, looking for something. She couldn't help smiling, seeing an almost childish enthusiasm in him as he looked for just the right one.

"Alright Ji, just find your stone so we can eat." She chuckled. Ji went to a rather large boulder, inspecting it thoughtfully.

"I thought there'd be more to choose from." He commented. "This one will take a lot of work."

He put down his bag, pulling out his geology hammer, a lump hammer, and a few chisels. She watched as he started to mark out a line across the middle as a guide. She took a seat a little way off, watching him work.

He picked up a large, bladed chisel, and the larger hammer, making the groove deeper. The metallic ring startled the birds, causing them to flutter away. She saw him take out another longer chisel, this one more of a point than a blade, and hammer it in, making a hole.

"Ji, how long does this take?" She asked. "There are plenty of stones..."

"This is the only one with pyrite." He told her. "Besides, a little work makes it more satisfying when I get the sample."

He picked up a wedge, hammering it into the hole. She watched as he then reached into the bag, pulling out a sledgehammer. She raised an eyebrow seeing this.

"You brought a sledgehammer?" She asked him.

"You need the right tool for the job." He said with a shrug. She just rolled her eyes as he raised the hammer.

"Ji, that rock is huge." She stated as his first blow rang out. "You're never..."

"It's all about knowing what to do." He told her, striking the wedge. "First, you create a stress line."

He grunted as he brought the hammer down again, striking the wedge further into the crack.

"Then you create a focus point." He told her, bringing down the hammer again. "It's the same way I broke the other rock, only on a larger scale."

"I'll believe that when..." She watched as after a couple more blows, finally the rock cracked open and split in two. He looked to her, smiling as he held the sledgehammer over his shoulders. "You...you actually did it!"

"Like I said, it's the same principle as with the smaller rock earlier." Ji told her, slapping the split boulder, which showed large deposits of a murky gold-coloured substance inside. "With the same principle, the size of the boulder is meaningless. Create the weakness, and it just falls apart."

"Just collect your sample." She told him, coming across. "Then we can have some lunch."

As Ji went back to his task, chipping off a chunk of the metal, which she presumed was the pyrite he was looking for, she looked out the packed lunch, before looking to him, seeing the look of delight on his face. She wasn't sure she'd ever understand his hobby, but it didn't matter. If it made him that happy, he could break as many rocks as he liked.


	12. Crisis Point

Clyde was sitting in the corner of the room, keeping a hand on Melanie's shoulder. He hated the situation he was in. Ever since Mr Hudson had suggested it, he wasn't sure, but things had quickly spiralled out of control. Mr Hudson had assured him things would go as planned. They would lock the other students in, take Melanie to a safe house, and then get the news crews to film her dad confessing to his crimes. It all sounded so simple, so straightforward...he never anticipated what had happened.

He still felt ill remembering seeing what happened to Mal. The shot went off, and there was blood...so much blood...he had been involved in sports for a long time, but he had no idea that one person had so much blood in them.

He looked down to Melanie, who had her hands bound behind her back with duct tape, and was gagged, unable to do anything but whimper. He remembered her from some of his games. Despite being a sophomore, she had been the head cheerleader at one time. He could remember her encouraging the team to victory more than once. This wasn't just a thing; it was Melanie, the girl that had encouraged him and his team to the city championship.

He looked to where Hudson was still casually smoking his cigar. Mr Hudson was a friend of his dad's. More than that, he had served with him. His dad never spoke about what happened in Afghanistan. The only thing that Clyde knew for sure was that he had been there, and he had come home without his legs. Mr Hudson had been around a lot since his father was pensioned off, and even more once the news that his pension had been sold out by Melanie's father. His dad didn't do much these days. For a while, it was excused because he was adjusting to the fact he no longer had his own legs, but after a while, even his son couldn't forgive his actions. He sought his solace in the bottom of a bottle.

He saw Melanie looking to him, pleading with her eyes that he let her go, but he knew he couldn't. Mr Hudson was a dear friend of the family. He was practically a brother to his dad, and it was devastating to him to doubt him, but now he was starting to wonder what was going on. He was in the school, which was surrounded on all sides, and Mr Hudson had threatened the lives of all the students. He had believed him initially when he promised that no one would get hurt, but he could still remember seeing Mal injured on the floor, and he started to think. Mr Hudson had conducted a number of missions in the Middle East, ones no one talked about, and he seemed to know what he was doing. Was it possible that he was serious?

"Clyde." Spike whispered. "Clyde, she can't breathe properly. Please, take..."

"Leave the tape where it is Clyde!" Mr Hudson droned. Spike realised that he had incredibly good hearing for someone his age. He just looked around. "We don't need to hear what the little princess has to say do we?"

"She isn't a little princess!" Spike snapped. "Sure, at one time she was rich, but do you have any idea what happened to her? Once her dad was arrested, all her family's assets were seized!"

"Am I supposed to feel sorry for her?" Hudson asked.

"She and her mom live in a motel!" Spike informed him. "I know things went badly for you, but she doesn't deserve..."

"What would you know about it Skullovitch?" Hudson snapped. "I know exactly who you are! You've never wanted for anything a day in your life!"

Spike didn't say anything. His father had been fortunate, and attained his fortune early in life, comparatively speaking. He had heard stories about how hard things were before Bulkmyers' restaurant took off, but his father and his uncle had sold out long before Spike was old enough to really remember anything. The fact was, by the time Spike was walking, his dad was already a millionaire.

"Do you know what it's like to be desperate?" He asked. "Do you know what it's like to have to decide between paying a bill and eating?"

"I..."

"Don't say a word!" Hudson snapped, cutting him off. "You see Clyde there? He's only two years older than you. He was all set to go to Yale! He had a scholarship and everything!"

"That's sad, but it wasn't Melanie's fault!" Spike implored him. He tried to remember everything his mother had told him about her missions. It was imperative that he got him thinking about the hostage as more than just an object, it was harder to kill a person than it was to execute a piece of furniture. It was a technique negotiators relied on. Using a person's name as often as possible, drawing attention to any show of emotion...it was a way to get a hostage taker to remember that they had a person in their grasp, not just an object. "Look at her, she's terrified!"

"Well, from what I hear, she isn't that great a person anyway." Hudson snorted. "In fact, Clyde told me how she dumped you in front of your whole year just because you were broke!"

Spike didn't want to blame Clyde for that. He knew that everyone knew about that incident, but that was long before her dad's arrest. Back then, she was an entirely different person, with a very different view of the world. It still hurt when Spike thought about his first experience dating a girl, but Melanie wasn't the same person she was when she pretty much ripped his heart out of his chest and stomped on it for the amusement of the other cool kids.

"She isn't like that." Spike told him. "She's one of my best friends..."

"Yeah, it sounds like it." Hudson sneered. "Do you know what I consider a friend? Someone you can rely on, someone you can trust...someone you have faith in when you put your life in their hands!"

"Mr Hudson..."

"Clyde's dad was such a man!" He barked. "He went through two tours with me, and without a second thought, I knew I could rely on him to have my back!"

"Mr Hudson..." Clyde pleaded with him.

"We were out there, every day not sure who we could trust other than each other!" He snapped. "You have no idea how it is not knowing whether each person you meet wants you dead or wants to help!"

"Mr Hudson..."

"Clyde's dad lost both his legs so that this country could keep living the way it does!" Hudson interrupted Clyde. "And how is he repaid? Not only does he lose his legs, he's told 'Oh sorry, but due to a banking error, you aren't even getting the money we promised you to live on'. Does that sound fair to you?"

"No, it doesn't!" Spike agreed. "Nor does sticking a gun to the head of a sixteen year old girl who had no say in what her dad did!"

"You try losing everything in one night and see what you feel like!" Hudson replied. "Me, I'm probably never going to retire. Clyde? In what was meant to be his first year of college, he's back at the school he graduated from a few months ago cleaning the God Damned toilets!"

He kicked over a desk, sending it tumbling away. Melanie looked terrified, and rightly so. Spike could see that Hudson was close to breaking point, and could only hope that what his mother had taught him would be enough. He just took a deep breath.

"Melanie's lost a lot too." Spike told him. "Do you really think she had anything to do with this?"

"Her dad..."

"Her dad was an asshole!" Spike agreed. "I agree, but do you really think Melanie had anything to do with it?"

"She..."

"Melanie's a victim just like you are." Spike told him, standing up. He was now remembering what his mom taught him. He was empathising with Hudson, trying to create a connection, but by standing up, he was trying to make himself seem like an equal. There was no point going any further if Hudson didn't take him seriously. "Do you think she wants to stay in that motel? Do you think she wanted to work in Chicken Shack? Or at the community pool?"

"Her dad..."

"Melanie is not her dad!" Spike interrupted him. "Melanie is another person, one I am proud to call a friend now. Melanie didn't do anything to you. Melanie..."

"Will you stop saying her name?" Hudson stated sharply.

"Why? It's her name." Spike stated. "She has a right..."

Hudson pulled out his Beretta, and grabbed Melanie around the throat, pulling her to her feet. She started to cry more forcefully as he pressed the gun to her temple.

"She HAS no rights!" He barked. "Not here, not now! Her dad sold them when he..."

Spike looked on in horror as Clyde pulled out his Beretta, levelling it at the back of Hudson's head. He heard the mechanical click as Clyde flicked off the safety.

"Clyde, we're..."

"Let her go!" He warned Hudson.

"We're doing this..."

"I said...LET...HER...GO!" Clyde snapped fiercely. "You told me no one was going to get hurt, and Mal nearly lost a leg! You told me no one was going to get hurt, and now you're threatening to kill an unarmed, bound and helpless civilian!"

"Clyde, your father..."

"My father is a hero!" Clyde told him. "He did what he thought was right, and while he paid a heavy price, he's not the one threatening children!"

"Put the gun away Clyde." Hudson warned him. Clyde just shook his head.

"No." He replied. "I can't let you do this."

"I've known you since you were in diapers." Hudson reminded him. "I'm practically family..."

"That's why I'm giving you this chance." Clyde interrupted him. "Put the gun down, or I will kill you!"

"You don't..."

"Do you really want to try me?" Clyde asked him, tears streaming down his face. "Please, Mr Hudson, put the gun down!"

Just then, the entire window, including the frame and the curtains flew in, showering the room. Spike and the others shielded themselves from flying glass as much as they could.

Spike's eyes turned to the window, and with what he knew from his mother's stories, he instinctively looked to high points. He saw a man in black combat gear lying on a billboard. There was a gunshot...

His head snapped around just in time to see a jet of blood spurting from the back of Clyde's head. It was then he realised what had happened. With the curtains up, they had to have been using heat vision. Holding Melanie, Hudson would have looked more or less like one person. Clyde was the only one that appeared to have a weapon levelled.

"Clyde!" Hudson screamed, releasing Melanie, allowing her to fall to the ground. It horrified him to see the lifeless form of his friends' son. He loved Clyde; he had done all of this because it galled him so much to know what Goodwill's greed had done to ruin his life. He never wanted Clyde to get hurt!

Spike saw the distraction, and the fact that Hudson's gun was no longer pointed at anyone. He took the opportunity, knowing he may only have a second, to rush Hudson, snatching his hand aside. He jumped up, driving a knee into his jaw, sending him to the ground, taking him down.

All reason gone, Spike mounted him and started hammering fists into his face. Cops stormed into the room, covering them.

"Alright get off him!" Eric screamed, levelling his gun at Spike. Spike just held up his hands, making sure that they could see he was unarmed. "I said get off him!"

Eric dragged Spike off, at which other officers, keeping him covered, secured Hudson in handcuffs. Spike looked to where another couple of officers were busy releasing Melanie from her bonds. One officer checked on Clyde, pressing a couple of fingers to his neck. Spike already knew what the outcome would be. The officer just shook his head.

"Situation contained." Eric said into the radio. "One casualty."

A little while later, Spike was sitting on a grass verge in the school yard, with an arm around Vicky, both of them under a blanket. Many of the kids had been seen and sent home, but he was hanging around until he saw all of his friends were alright.

"You hear about these things, but you never think they'll happen." Cody sighed, handing Spike a mug of hot chocolate he had been given by a paramedic. Spike accepted it, taking a sip and nodding. Vicky squeezed him tightly.

"Melanie...?"

"She went in an ambulance to the hospital." Spike told them sadly. "I'm guessing she's more interested in seeing Mal than getting checked out."

"Say, what's with that guy?" Cody asked, pointing to a police car. They saw a guy in SWAT gear sitting in the door, holding his head in his hands. A guy in a suit came over with a bag, at which he put a rifle into it.

"That's a guy having a really bad day." Spike said dejectedly.

"You mean...?" Spike interrupted Vicky by nodding his head. He knew about the procedure involved in these situations because Kimberly had told him about it.

"He's the one that shot Clyde." Spike told them.

"Mr Skullovitch?" A police woman asked. Spike looked up at her.

"Yeah?" He asked.

"The sergeant wants to see you." She told him. Spike looked to the others, before heading off, following her.

He went into the school, into a deserted classroom, where David was waiting. There was a seat directly in front of the desk.

"So, you're Spike Skullovitch?" He asked. Spike just nodded nervously. David gestured to the chair, at which Spike sat down. "Quite a day huh?"

"I guess you could say that." Spike agreed. He felt sick to his stomach thinking about what had happened less than an hour ago. He didn't know Clyde well, but he remembered him. Out of the whole senior year, our of the whole football team, Clyde had been one of the better ones. He hadn't actively tried to make things difficult for Spike and his friends. He had let them be.

"You have no idea what you did today do you?" David asked him. Spike just shook his head.

"I know exactly what I did." Spike told him. "I got Clyde killed..."

"No, no you didn't." David told him flatly. "Clyde had every opportunity to pull out and he didn't. Hudson had every opportunity to pull out and he didn't. There's no one to blame here..."

"Clyde was 19!" Spike yelled, interrupting him. "He wasn't much older than me! He got in over his head!"

"Yes, yes he did." David agreed.

"He was trying to end it!" Spike informed him. "He wasn't pointing his gun at Melanie; he was pointing it at Hudson! He was trying to help!"

"Well that..."

"He was a good person and now he's dead!" Spike whimpered. "What about that is alright?"

"Nothing." David agreed. "The sad thing is, in this world, bad things happen. The reason we have a SWAT unit is because bad things happen, and we need to be ready for them when they do."

David could see that Spike was clearly traumatised by what had happened. He leaned in closer.

"You still don't know what you did? Then I'll tell you. You managed to talk down a hostage taker with no training, and no back-up."

"I..."

"When the time came for direct action, you took him down quickly, and without further casualties." David continued. "I have guys on my team that can't do what you just did, and they've been trained for years."

"But Clyde's dead!" Spike protested.

"Yes, he is, and that is tragic!" David agreed. He looked to a file on the desk. "I her that when you spoke to a career counsellor you told him you considered becoming a cop like your mom."

"If this is what it's like..."

David slammed a fist into the desk, and looked to Spike, his expression one of frustration.

"You're fifteen years old, and in one day you managed to end a hostage situation with no experience, no training, and no back-up." He stated. "There's one fatality, and one kid in hospital as a result. Do you know what I call that?"

"I..."

"I call that pretty God Damned miraculous!" David told him. He scribbled something on a sheet of paper, and slid it to Spike. "This is a letter of commendation. I'll send another to your principal to put on your permanent record."

"But..."

"The only thing that will piss me off more than the fact that a kid died today, is if in two years I don't see your name on the register, and your face front and centre at the enrolment ceremony of the Police Academy." He told him. "You have a gift Spike. I really hope you use it."

With that, he waved Spike out the door.

Spike got outside, finding Vicky, Jimmy, Cody and his uncle waiting.

"We...we thought we'd see if we could check on Mal." Jimmy told him. Spike just nodded.

"That would be good." He agreed, shoving the letter in the back pocket of his jeans. He still couldn't see the light at the end of this day, but he figured at least he could see how his friend was.

"Are you alright?" Bulk asked his nephew. "I mean, this was..."

"I'll be alright." Spike said through a forced smile. "Mal's the one that got shot, let's see how he is."Cr


	13. Ji's Theory

Serena hit the ground again, pounding it with her fist in frustration. She had never failed anything in training before, but Stephen's power disk was kicking her butt up and down the Shiba House's grounds.

"Serena focus!" Terry beckoned her. She just wanted to run across, grab him by the throat and strangle him until he stopped kicking. What the hell did he think she was doing? Did he think she wanted this? Did he think she was slacking off? Did he think she was just taking it easy?

Serena hated failing, she hated feeling like a failure, but it was quickly becoming a familiar feeling. She had barely graduated high school before she fell ill. She had never attended college. She had never even passed a driver's test. Hell, she hadn't even really found the power disk, Stephen had made it. With the exception of finding Kasamune, she had never accomplished anything in her life.

"Get UP!" He screamed at her. "Come on Serena, you're tougher than this, get UP!"

She threw Kasamune aside, shaking her head. She hated feeling so weak, so worthless, but there was no other way to look at it. She was a failure in everything she had ever done. She was a nothing, a nobody. Terry had apparently hitched his pony to the wrong cart.

She had figured that he liked her. Hell, she had figured that out some time ago, but she was actively trying to get him to turn away. Terry was just one of those guys that everything worked out for. She could never remember seeing him reading a medical journal...hell, she couldn't remember seeing him read full stop, and yet he just seemed to know things chapter and verse that she could never fathom. He had quoted entire chapters from text books that baffled even Ji, but she could never for one moment understand how he knew such things.

He was barely older than Emily. There was a year in it, maybe two. What business did she have feeling this way about someone who had a real future? One that didn't involve swinging swords or punching faces. He knelt down next to her, putting an arm around her.

"Serena..."

"Don't touch me!" She snapped, shoving him away. She knew what Mia meant when she told her that she was worried about Terry's interest in her. He didn't know what was best for him. He had no idea how much he was risking thinking about her. So far, she had thrown her baby sister into a war, gotten her first boyfriend murdered at the hands of Serrator...pretty much everyone in her life had suffered just through knowing her. She didn't want that for Terry. She wanted him to find some cute girl, probably some nursing student or suchlike, have a bunch of kids, and forget all about her.

"Serena, you own this!" He told her. "Kasamune is YOUR SWORD! You own it! Get the hell up!"

She picked up Kasamune, glaring at him hatefully. It was the only thing she could do. She didn't have the brains to do anything else, all she could do was get back on her feet and try again. It was the story of her life, get knocked down, get back up, keep fighting.

Despite the way he felt about her, Terry hated this side of Serena. He beckoned her back to her feet, knowing she would get up, she always did. She was easily the most resilient person he had ever met, something that had once very nearly ended up killing her. She was so desperate to ensure that her baby sister didn't have to take her place than when she had fallen ill, she didn't say anything to anyone, not even her parents. She had dragged herself to her feet every day for months. She had masked her symptoms behind pills, keeping her pain from everyone, even Emily, before one day it was too much for even her to hide. In the end, she collapsed, unable to stand in her back yard, and once the doctors examined her, they came to the conclusion that her condition was terminal. If she had only spoken up a few months earlier, they would have been able to do something to help, but by the time she finally did say something, it was hopeless.

Serena lunged at him, swinging for the fences, at which Terry just stepped aside, letting her face-plant straight into the lawn. He turned to her, glaring at her.

"God Damn it Serena, you're better than this!" He snapped. "On my best day, I should be about five hours behind you, but I'm barely breaking a sweat!"

"What do you want me to say Terry?" She asked him. "Do you want me to confirm the fact that I suck?"

"Serena..."

"I know I suck!" She wailed as she started to sob uncontrollably. "I've never done anything of note in my life! I suck so much that for the first time in history, the second child has had to take up the Samuraizer because her sister..."

"Serena..."

"Get away from me!" She screamed. "Anyone that has anything to do with me ends up either hurt or dead!"

"Serena..."

"You're better off without me." She murmured. "Everyone is."

"Serena, that isn't true." Terry told her.

"Tell me one thing that I've done right." She told him. "Go ahead and try!"

"Dekker can slice a boulder weighing nearly a ton in half without breaking a sweat." He reminded her.

"I didn't ask about..."

"You blocked it without thinking." He reminded her. It had indeed happened. Instead, she could remember kneeling over him, throwing her arm up, only for an armoured sleeve to appear. She didn't know why it had happened, all she knew was that for once, the power disk had done something...anything at all.

"Serena, you have no idea how amazing you are do you?" He asked her.

"Amazing like a bearded lady?" She asked him. "Terry, I am..."

Terry didn't bother trying to argue with her. She was so stubborn that she would never discuss the matter anyway. She wasn't much of a talker, she dealt with things head on! She didn't think, she just reacted to the world around her.

As he ended up on his back, looking up at her, Serena was looking down on him. He just gave her that smirk she both loved and hated.

"You have found the secret to unlocking that power." He reminded her. "You just can't remember what you did."

"So, I'm as useless as always." She muttered, helping him up.

"I will never believe you're useless." He told her. "Now, let's try recreating what happened. Clearly something about that day was the X-factor."

In the country, Brenda was sitting in the bedroom, smiling contentedly. Ji had a lot more fun than she did on their little geology expedition, but she couldn't help finding it a little cute that he just lost himself in his hobby.

She looked to a map, smiling as she noticed that Ji had marked out places he wanted to go once the war was over, presuming it ever did end.

"So, you want to go back to Monalua?" She asked him.

"The volcano there has produced many, very interesting stones." He told her, running his hands through his hair in the shower.

"So, what about the Rykker Fields?" She asked him. "Surely there can't be too many interesting stones out there."

"Well, it IS an old field." He told her.

"Well, what about the Industrial Zone?" She asked.

"Brenda, what are you talking about?" Ji asked her.

"Well, on this map, you have a few places marked out." She told him. "You know, they mark a straight line. I guess you're already planning..."

Ji came out of the bathroom, looking to the map.

"Uh...honey, you forgot to put on a towel..."

"This...I...I can't..." He stammered. "I can't believe I never noticed this!"

"Ji..."

She watched as he took a ruler, drawing a line through all the points marked on the map. They were indeed lined up perfectly in a straight line.

"Ji, what's happening?" She asked.

"Do you remember what I told you about geology?" He asked her. "You know, how you can break open rocks?"

"Uh...yeah." She said, a little confused. "First..."

"You create a stress line." He interrupted her. "Then, you hammer home a wedge."

"Alright?" She asked, wondering where he was going with this. He pointed to the map, indicating the line

"It's so clear now!" He stated. "I...I can't believe..."

"Ji, what are you talking about?" She asked him.

"It's a plan so dangerous, no Nighlock has ever attempted it." He told her. "It threatens both worlds..."

"Ji, what are you talking about?" She reiterated. He pulled a stone out of his luggage, placing it on the table.

"You create a stress line, then you only need one strike." He told her.

"To do what?" She asked him. He put a chisel to the stone, then struck it with a hammer, causing both halves of the stone to fly in different directions. Brenda just looked to him.

"You said with the same principle..."

"You can break any stone." Ji confirmed. "I think Serrator's plans are worse than we ever imagined."

"Ji..."

"I think he's trying to split open the whole world!" Ji told her, looking back to the map. "Look at it, this map...all his attacks...they're not random, they're all focussed, there's a pattern, a design..."

"Ji, you're scaring me." Brenda told him.

"You should be scared." He answered, flipping out his Samuraizer. "If I'm right, everyone should be scared."


	14. New Challenges

**A/N: **I'm back folks! Sorry for the long gap, the last week especially has been a trying time, health wise. Thankfully, I am finally now back at the computer, willing to take part in the hobby I love so much!

The newest eps of PRSS will be airing this week in the US, and while the UK HAS aired a good few of them, I promise that I'll keep any spoilers strictly to a minimum to advance the story. Hope you all enjoy it.

The following day, Melanie, Spike, Vicky and Cody made their way to the hospital. There had been no classes for a couple of days at the school while and investigation into the hostage incident had taken place. Everyone had been contacted to ensure they knew that the following day, they would all be expected to return to lessons, trying to get people back into a routine as early as possible. An addendum to their notification of return was that counselling services would be made available. All things considered, it was probably a good idea. Several people, including the ones in Spike's class, and certainly the ones involved in the resolution of the situation had more than a few things to talk through.

Melanie had, to the best of their knowledge, not seen a counsellor yet, despite their insistence it would be a good idea. She was currently more interested in visiting Mal in the hospital. He was the only one who had been injured in the siege, having taken a shot early in the encounter when he tried to get the gun from Clyde, hoping to save his girlfriend. It was a brave, though somewhat foolhardy thing to do, and he was lucky that he was only injured.

They arrived in the room, finding Mal sitting up, seeming to be in high spirits. He brightened up considerably seeing Melanie though, beckoning her over for a hug. They all quickly complied, exchanging greetings as they came to the side of his bed. Mr and Mrs Berkowitz were also at the side of the bed, and grateful to see so many of Mal's friends coming to see him.

"Hey guys, I thought you'd be back at school by now." He commented.

"Mal, it's only been three days." Spike reminded him. "The cops needed to do their investigation."

"Yeah, we're going back tomorrow though." Cody stated, arriving through a window. Everyone just looked at him as he climbed in. "Oh come on, everyone should be used to my entrances by now."

"Yeah, they invented these magical things called doors." Spike reminded him. Cody came to Mal's side, handing him a brown paper bag. Smiling, Mal reached inside, only to pull out what could be described most accurately as a twig, with about four grapes attached to it. He just sighed and looked to him.

"I might have had a couple on the way over." Cody said with a shrug. Melanie was next, pulling out a large card, which had been signed by all of them, and a teddy bear with a thick, red ribbon tied around its neck. She placed them both on his bedside table.

"So, how are things?" Spike asked him. "I stayed in here overnight when Serena gave me that concussion. If I remember the food's pretty rank."

"Next time tell them you're Jewish." Mal said with a little laugh. "They have to send a guy out to get me something from the deli down the street."

"I'll have to remember that." Spike chuckled as he heard this. Mal had a habit of joking about his faith, but they knew it was important to him really. He generally didn't eat the food from the school canteen anyway, but he often told them that one of the advantages was that under the law, if he DID choose to eat in the school canteen, a hospital, an airline etc. They were required to ensure that they could provide him with a meal he could eat. Clearly in this instance, the hospital didn't have many patients that required kosher meals, and so it wasn't a financially viable option to simply provide the meals, and so they ordered them in. This obviously had an effect on the quality of the food.

"So, what did the doctors have to say?" Melanie asked him. "When will you be back on your feet so I can hold you properly?" Jimmy started to mime gagging behind her back. This just earned him a three-way smack upside the head from Spike, Cody and Vicky.

"Well, they're always cautious about these things, they said a whole lot of stuff I didn't understand." He informed them. "But hey, people get shot in the leg all the time in the movies! They're already talking about discharging me, and getting me crutches, so I should be back at school in no time."

"Really?" Melanie asked, sounding a little hopeful. One thing she didn't notice was that behind her back, Mr and Mrs Berkowsky were looking at each other a little doubtfully. None of the kids noticed that.

"Hey, the auditions for West Side Story are in a couple of month's right?" He asked them. "I have every intention of padding out my resume for college with a part in that."

"That sounds like it would be great." Melanie said with a bright smile. "Perhaps you can be Tony to my Maria."

"Well, actually I had my eyes set on Bernardo." He said with a little smile. He knew that none of the others particularly cared much for the theatre, and so most of what he said whenever he talked about it went over their heads. "He's the leader of the Sharks. Something just really appeals to me about being the villain of the piece."

"Well, I guess you'll just have to get used to seeing me kiss another guy if I get Maria's part." She chuckled, leaning over him and kissing him. "You do seem really upbeat about all of this."

"Well, the pain meds are really pretty groovy I've got to admit." He told them. "But by now, I just want to get out of here. I mean, this television only has twenty channels and no DVD player! I'll be climbing the walls any day now."

"Well, perhaps it is time you got some rest." Mrs Berkowsky suggested to her son.

"Mom, I've been lying in a bed for days, how much more rested can I get?" He asked her.

Just then, mercifully a nurse came in, carrying a tray full of cleaning equipment and dressings. Mr Berkowsky looked to her, and back to his son.

"Somehow I doubt this is something you're going to want Melanie to see." He teased his son. Mal just shrugged.

"She's the one planning on kissing another guy." He reminded them. "I'll be back as soon as I can."

They all bid him farewell, realising that they would have to come back later if the nurse was checking on his injury. As they went though, Mr Berkowsky took a gentle hold of Melanie's arm.

"Would you mind if I had a word with you?" He asked her. She just looked to the others.

"Guys, would you give us a minute?" She asked them. They all headed off, with Jimmy saying something about hitting the canteen while they waited.

Meanwhile, in the woods outside of town, Dayu was with Dekker, watching him cook yet another unfortunate small animal, this one she presumed to be a rabbit or similar. She never really understood his desire to eat. As immortal Nighlock, strictly speaking they had no need to take part in such mundane activities. Many Nighlock still enjoyed eating, but it was not a function of necessity for them. Some partook in such practices as cannibalism purely because it made them feel superior to others, one of the reasons it was best not to wander the Netherworld alone and unwary. Dekker though seemed to delight purely in the flavour of these small mammals.

"Where is Serrator?" She grumbled. "My patience is wearing thin!"

"As is mine." Dekker agreed. "We both know that he has a time and place he wants us to act. Until his intentions are clear, all we can do is wait for him.

"I know, I just hate feeling helpless waiting for his attack." She told him. "Surely you have felt the power in the air too. There is something I cannot explain about his actions."

"I think it might have something to do with those locators he keeps carrying around." Dekker surmised. "I mean, what possible difference could it make where a battle takes place? If the warrior is strong enough, then he should be victorious."

"This coming from the man that's been searching for the right time and place for his grand duel for centuries?" Octoroo asked as he arrived. Unlike Dekker and Dayu, he was a full Nighlock. He would dry out eventually, and so he had to use his time in the human world sparingly. "I think I have finally figured out what he is up to."

"You...you have?" Dayu asked him. Dekker also appeared to get a little more animated hearing this. They had spent months trying to fathom what the deceptive Nighlock was up to.

"How?" Dayu gasped, allowing herself to hope that the tiny Nighlock was not simply aggrandising himself. He reached into his robes, and pulled out one of Serrator's locators.

"It seems our friend has become a little careless with his possessions." Octoroo told them. "I have used this on the sites of his battles, and found something of interest."

"Just spit it out." Dekker said impatiently. "Preferably before Serrator realises that is gone."

"The sites all have a particular energy in common." Octoroo explained. "Not to mention a rather coincidental geographical thing in common."

"What would that be?" Dayu asked him. Octoroo scribed a quick sketch of the area in the dirt with the end of his staff, before jamming it into the ground.

"Serrator's first attack was to attack the Rangers in the park here." He informed them. "Next, he attacked at the temple, where he murdered the Ranger's friend."

He marked another couple of sites, reminding them of the battles that Serrator, not Xandred had sanctioned. Dekker saw the pattern and looked to him.

"They are all in a line." Dekker told him.

"They are indeed." Octoroo informed them, holding up the locator again. "I have found one more site that shares an energy signature with the other sites."

"Which means..."

"His plan is no doubt close to reaching fruition." Octoroo assured them.

"Then it is time to enact ours." Dayu responded. "It is not often you make yourself useful, but this sounds promising."

Back at the retreat, Ji and Brenda were packing quickly, intending to head home. Their honeymoon had now been cut short twice, and was certainly more than a little eventful.

Brenda had never seen Ji so fretful, so distracted. He had already said something of his theory, and she had to admit that it sounded terrifying. He suspected that Serrator's goal all along was to quite literally split the earth in two, somewhat like splitting open a dam as opposed to Xandred's idea, which seemed more like turning on a tap and waiting for a bathtub to flood.

"Your car is ready." One of the guardians informed them. Ji just nodded in understanding. They had many allies, who accommodated many needs. The Tengen Gate was the most prestigious, but many other sites, such as certain gardens, temples and suchlike existed. Even Cody and Kieran's home was such a site, having been former guardians of the Bull Zord. This particular one, Ji had chosen for its remote, private location, and amazingly luxurious accommodations. It was primarily a hospital, a place of healing that the Samurai and their servants went when they could not afford to raise suspicions going anywhere else, but it was so much more. It was also a place that they could go to get away from everything. There were a few such places in the world, the Samurai had quickly found the value in having places to go to stay under the radar, and to relax and unwind.

"Thank you." Ji said to him gratefully. He handed the young man a bag, at which he took it away. He looked back to Brenda and sighed.

"I am sorry." He told her. "I know you have had to endure a lot in this relationship."

"Ji, it's alright. I fully understand." She assured him. "It's all part and parcel of the superhero thing."

"I know, it's just..." He tailed off regretfully. Brenda just pulled him in, kissing him softly.

"I didn't come into any of this wearing a blindfold. I knew exactly who you were when we started to take things seriously." She reminded him. "I know you'll make it up to me in any way you can. You're sweet like that, it's one of the reasons I love you. But I knew from the beginning that what we want will take a back seat to the fate of the whole world."

"I really hope I'm wrong about this." Ji told her.

"I hope you are too." She assured him. "But until we know for sure, I guess I just have to make do with knowing that in six months, I get to add to the legacy by bringing the next generation of Samurai into the world."

"I don't know what I ever did to deserve you." He answered, putting his arm around her. As they left, heading to their vehicle, they climbed inside, getting the instructions from a guardian for the fastest route back to the city.

Pulling away, they drove past a stranger heading up the path. She just turned, seeing the Shiba Family crest on the door of the SUV, and continued on her path.

Making her way to the gate, she pounded a fist on the door to rouse attention. Eventually, the gate was answered.

"Hello?" The guardian answered. He saw the young woman, who was about five and a half feet in height, and had a healthy, toned build that showed the extent of her training. She was wearing clothes that were lightly flecked in dust from the road, and the state of her boots indicated that she had been travelling for some time. She had long, ash-blonde hair, and bright blue eyes. "Um...are you seeking...?"

"I need refuge for a time." She answered, handing him her bag. He looked to her, trying to get a bead on her. Besides seeming a little tired, like she had travelled some distance, she didn't seem to be injured in any way. "I may need to leave abruptly."

"Well, I..." He was about to say something else, when he saw something dangling from the back of her belt. He had only ever heard of it described in books, it was a legend. He looked to her, his mouth hanging open. "You...you are...?"

"I've travelled a long way." She answered the guardian. "I will need to be caught up on recent events..."

"Of course." He answered, guiding her towards her quarters. "I will ensure you have suitable accommodations."

Back at the hospital, Melanie was standing, watching Mr Berkowsky standing, trying to find what to say. To say they had not had the easiest of relationships would have been an understatement. Being so staunch in his faith, he had been very hard on her, and reluctant to accept her into his son's once he knew about her suicide attempt. It was still difficult for her to talk to him at times, even though he now accepted that she and his son were dating. Looking to him, she could see that he was obviously troubled.

"You're really scaring me now." She told him. "Is there something wrong with Mal?"

It was somewhat of a redundant question, he had been shot only days earlier. Mr Berkowsky just took a deep breath.

"I'm sorry; I just don't know what to make of all this myself." He told her. "Mal is trying to stay upbeat, but I think he may be somewhat...I have a feeling he may be putting a brave face on things for the benefit of his friends."

Melanie just looked at him, not understanding what he was saying.

"It's more serious than he told us isn't it?" Melanie asked him. He just nodded.

"The bullet barely missed his kneecap." He told her. Melanie had heard of 'kneecapping' as a form of torture and punishment in movies. She knew enough to know that the kneecap was extremely important to the knee's normal range of function. "I didn't understand completely what the doctor told us, but he did mention that there was some nerve damage."

"Nerve damage?" She asked him. He nodded sadly.

"Where the bullet went through, there are a lot of nerves and muscles..." He started to explain, finding it difficult to talk about. "It's a miracle it didn't go through any lower. If it had gone through the joint..."

"But Mal..." She started to say, finding it difficult to think about. She didn't know too much about anatomy, but having been a cheerleader for some time, she had seen her fair share of knee injuries and knew how serious they could be. One or two of the football players had been benched for most of the season when something went badly wrong. "He was talking about coming back to school...he was talking about auditioning for the musical!"

"He may go back to school on crutches, they are already preparing for him to be discharged." He informed her. "As for the rest, I think he may be a little prematurely optimistic."

He put a hand on her shoulder as she started to cry a little harder. She knew what he was saying. If something had gone badly, if there was permanent damage to his knee, then it was possible his chances of being a top flight performer were over. Many dancers had continued after knee injuries, but to perform at the level he wanted to required a whole different level of ability.

"He may have a long and hard road ahead of him." Mr Berkowsky told her honestly. "I thought it was only fair that you were prepared for that."

"Mal stood by me at the lowest point in my life." She answered, wiping away her tears. "I love him so much."

"You have no idea how much that means to us." Mr Berkowsky told her, putting an arm around her rather awkwardly. He just wasn't one of those guys, but he was grateful to hear that she was prepared to be there for his son. He parted from her a little way, offering her a handkerchief, which she took gratefully, before heading off to rejoin her friends. Mrs Berkowsky just held her husband, taking comfort in his arms.


	15. Epic Responsibility

At the Shiba House, it was getting late, and most of the team was in the main room, relaxing with a movie. Jayden was sitting on the floor, with Antonio's arm around him, smiling as he opened a bag of popcorn kernels, pouring them into a saucepan, which he had put on a pot stand on the floor. He then got out his Samuraizer and traced a symbol, firing it into the pot. The kernels started to rattle a little, before starting to pop. Mike leaned over, tapping him on the shoulder.

"I thought I remembered something about a rule against abusing our symbol powers." He commented. Jayden just shrugged.

"Everyone misbehaves a little when their parents are out of town." He remarked. "Besides, this way I don't have to go to the kitchen to make more popcorn."

"That is probably the laziest thing I've ever heard you say." Mia chuckled. Jayden just shrugged his shoulders.

"I blame all of you." He told them. "I mean, before you all came, I was all about training and the Samurai lifestyle. Obviously you're all a bad influence on me."

"Way to take responsibility." Mike teased him. He then let out a huge whoop as the car chase started. "Oh man, I can't believe Emily's missing this! Where is she?"

"I think I'll go and check." Mia told them. "Besides, our ingenious leader did forget one thing in his plan for easy popcorn."

As Jayden took a bite, he looked slightly less than completely happy with it. Mia just ruffled his hair playfully.

"If you don't flavour it with anything, it tastes rather bland." She reminded them. "I'll be back soon, don't bother pausing it."

"But Mia, this is one of the best parts!" Kevin protested.

"Kevin, thanks to Mike we've all seen this movie a million times." She reminded him. "Mike could probably recite every line of this film off by heart. Hell, by now you probably could!"

"OK." Kevin replied. "Come back quickly though, we're putting on 'Taken' next." He reminded her. She just turned and went to the kitchen, looking out some salt, before making her way back down the hall. There, she found Emily crouched by one of the bedroom doors. It was Serena's room. Mia just made her way over, tapping her on the shoulder, causing the Yellow Ranger to jump in fright, landing on her butt. Emily held a hand on her chest and looked up to her with wide eyes.

"Mia, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Emily whispered. Mia just looked to her with a little smirk.

"And why exactly are you crouching around behind doors, and whispering?" Mia asked her, finding herself whispering too. "If I didn't know any better, I'd say someone was eavesdropping."

"It...it doesn't count if it's family." Emily protested feebly. She knew damn fine that spying on others was wrong, hell she was sure that some of the things that happened between her and Mike in the privacy of their own room it was best the others never knew about. There was, however, a side of her that just couldn't help getting involved where Serena was concerned.

"Emily, you've been gone ages." Mia reminded her. "Even Mike's noticed, and normally he wouldn't notice if Master Xandred turned up in a dinner suit with Dayu and started dancing the Velaro in the living room when he watches 'Gone in 60 Seconds'."

"But...this is so much better." Emily stated, waving her down. Mia rolled her eyes and joined Emily on her knees, finding the door slightly ajar. They both looked in.

Serena was sitting on the bed, with the right shoulder of her pyjamas pulled down as Terry sat behind her with a sponge, checking her over. He had taken his promise to help her train with Kasamune seriously, and had spent almost all his time with her, whether it was shouting encouragement while she trained, or tending her wounds when the power got too much for her. She grimaced a little as he cooled off a burn on her upper arm.

"Stupid sword." She muttered for what seemed like the millionth time. "No wonder the original Cursed Warrior never finished Dekker off. She was probably too flash roasted to do it."

"Look at it this way." Terry said with a little smile as he continued to work. "If this is what it does to you, then think of what it'll do to the other guy."

"I guess that's one way to look at it." She answered. "Though at times like this I wish I had fire symbol power. Maybe then I wouldn't get burned so much."

"I...don't think that's how it works." Terry reminded her. She just sighed and pulled up her pyjama top, closing it up as she turned to face him.

"I guess now I know what Jayden feels like." She responded. Terry looked to her.

"Yeah, again I don't think fire symbol power makes you IMMUNE to fire." He stated. She brushed some hair out of her face, looking to him more seriously.

"No, not that, I mean..." She started to explain. "When he told us about the sealing symbol, the fact that it runs in his family...I always knew it was a lot for him to cope with."

"Yeah, I guess it is." Terry responded. "I mean, the whole 'one to save the world' thing? I know we've all had a lot to deal with, but for us it was never the only option."

"I knew it was a lot of weight to carry, leading the team, and knowing that he has to be the one to write the sealing symbol." Serena explained to him, sounding slightly saddened, like she was close to tears. "But with us, we always knew there would be others to take up the fight. We always knew that if the worst happened, others would be able to take over where we left off."

"Serena..."

"I didn't want it for her, but I knew Emily would step into my shoes, Mia had you. I remember Kevin and Mike talking about aunts and uncles, so no doubt there's cousins somewhere that can come in..."

"Serena..."

"Terry, since I got Kasamune, I finally understand how lonely it is." She finally stated. "I mean, I'm not the only one that can be Yellow Ranger, but Kasamune only has one mistress! It chose me!"

Terry held her hand as she wiped away a couple of tears. It was a frustrating process trying to understand the ancient power of Kasamune, or the Power Disk Stephen had created for it. Neither exactly came with an instruction Manual, and Stephen had been murdered before he could even tell Serena that the Power Disk existed. She had given her all, trying everything, and was going to keep doing so until she had nothing left if that was what it took. It was both impressive, and terrifying to him that he knew she would wilfully give her last breath in order to use it for its intended purpose.

"Terry, there is no one else." She reiterated. "You have no idea how lonely, how terrifying a thought that is. I've never felt pressure like this in my life before. The whole world might literally be pinning all its hopes to me."

Terry held her hand a little tighter, listening intently to her.

"What if I'm not good enough to beat Dekker?" She asked him. "What if I never master Kasamune? What if I fail? Everything depends on me, and I can't get my head into the game because all I can think about is the fact that if I don't come up with the goods, then it's not just me that suffers, it's all over for everyone."

"Serena, I think that's a huge part of the problem." He said softly. "You're putting too much pressure on yourself."

"But..."

"Serena, how can you possibly concentrate on...anything, if you're letting absolutely everything in here?" He asked, placing his index finger on her temple. She shook her head.

"How can I not?" She asked. "It's not just about me..."

"Sometimes, the only way we can show we care is to distance ourselves." He said to her. "One time at the hospital, I saw a bunch of surgeons talking about their operations. One of them got to me because from what he described, I realised I knew the patient. It was one of the people I had been asked to study for my classes. The way they were talking about him though, it sounded like he was fixing a DVD player. I got annoyed and I went over to talk to them, to tell them what I thought about them."

"So, what happened?" She asked.

"The Chief Resident saw us arguing and broke it up." Terry recalled as he shifted on the bed. "He then reminded me that despite what I thought of that surgeon, that wasn't all he had to do that day. Straight after he left Mr. Jenkins' room, he went to get scrubbed up for a heart transplant."

Terry smiled a little.

"He saved four lives that day." Terry told her. "The only reason he was able to do that, was because at that moment, at the moment that he was in the Operating Room, he didn't think about them as people. They were the task at hand. I later found out that the same surgeon had spent three hours with Mr Jenkins the day before, talking to him to put his mind at rest."

Terry lifted up a hand, cradling the side of Serena's face. Outside the door, Emily and Mia both smiled, becoming increasingly excited as he moved closer.

"No one is asking you to be something you're not. No one is asking you to forget and not care about anything else." Terry explained. "Your heart, your compassion is apparently what made Kasamune choose you in the first place."

He looked deeply into her eyes.

"For what it's worth, it's why I'd have chosen you too." Terry assured her. "I don't have a doubt in me that when the time comes, you'll be more than enough to handle the responsibility."

"But...Kasamune..."

"Kasamune's just a piece of metal in the grand scheme of things." He told her. "It can't do anything if it doesn't have someone to wield it. I have no doubt whatsoever that if there's anyone in existence that will do this, it's you."

"This is it!" Emily whispered, bouncing a little excitedly, seeing how close they were. Mia put a hand on her shoulder to stop her bouncing, but trying hard to contain her own excitement.

After a moment, Terry stroked her hair back, and got off the bed, heading to her side board.

"What's he doing?" Emily asked in a hushed voice. "Serena's the other way genius!"

He put a couple of tablets into a glass of water, which started to fizz, dissolving into it. He handed it to Serena, sitting on the bed with her.

"This should help with the pain, and help you sleep." He told her.

"OK, there's still time." Mia whispered. "Terry, you know what..."

He put a hand on her shoulder as she drank the solution, looking into her eyes, and smiling deeply.

"Come on, come on!" Emily chanted quietly, willing him to act. "What do you need, runway lights to her lips? Kiss her you idiot!"

"Thank you." Serena answered, handing him the glass back. "I guess I'll see you same time tomorrow."

"First thing, on the training mats, I'll be the one in the pink gi." He assured her, before getting up, putting the glass away.

"NO, what are you doing?" Emily breathed, her frustration getting the better of her. "You were so close, she was sitting right there! You only had to move like six inches!"

"Uh...Emily, he's coming this way." Mia reminded her, dragging Emily to her feet as Terry started to make his way to the door. They both scrambled away, heading back to the living room where the others were waiting.

"He Emily, you missed the end." Mike told her.

"Yeah, and you've been gone a while." Kevin chipped in. "Say, weren't you going to get salt for the popcorn?"

"Yeah." Mia answered. Kevin just held up his hands.

"Well then, where is it?" He asked her. "Where's the salt shaker?"

Mia then realised that she didn't have it on her. Before she could answer, Terry appeared behind them, causing Emily and Mia to jump.

"Say guys, why was there a salt shaker just lying around in the hall?" He asked them. "I kicked it over.

"Oh..um..." Mia stammered, realising that she had put it down when she started spying on him along with Emily. "I...put it down when..."

"She was helping me." Emily lied, looking to Mia for support. "I was...checking by the phone for a flyer for that burrito place Mike likes."

"She couldn't find it among all the flyers and phone books by the phone." Mia added, taking her lead from Emily.

"Em, it's 10:30." Mike reminded her. "It was a nice thought, but that place closes early. They probably took last orders half an hour ago."

"Yeah, I remembered that when we found the flyer." Emily answered, grateful that Mike had unwittingly given them an excuse not to end up coming up with the promised burritos. "Sorry, it was just a thought."

"So why was it on the floor?" Terry asked his sister. "Why didn't you put it down on the table?"

"Emily had flyers all over the table when I got there." Mia told him. "I put it down to help her."

"On the floor?" Jayden asked, a little surprised to hear this.

"Uh...yeah." Mia answered awkwardly. "I guess I just forgot about it. Sorry, I'll clean up..."

"It's alright, I'll clean it up." Terry assured them. "You already missed one movie, no reason for you to miss Liam Neeson too."

"OK." Mike said with a shrug. The others all dismissed the incident too, opting instead to make sure they didn't miss the start of the movie.

He handed Mia the salt shaker, giving her a little look, which let her know that while the others had brushed off the whole thing, something about her story just didn't ring true.

"Hey Em, right here!" Mike called, slapping the couch next to him.

Emily and Mia sat on the couch, between Kevin and Mike, their respective partners, putting their arms around them. Handing Jayden the salt, Jayden sprinkled some on the popcorn, tasting it to satisfy himself it was salted enough, before putting the pot and the stand up on the table where everyone could reach it with minimal stretching.

"Terry didn't buy it did he?" Emily whispered to Mia.

"No." She concurred under her breath. "No he didn't."

On the road back to the city, Brenda could see that Ji was starting to look tired. She reached across, touching his arm.

"Ji, we need to stop." She told him. "You're exhausted."

"We must get back to the house." He said, shaking his head as he turned up the AC again to keep him focussed. "The others need to know..."

"Ji, we aren't going to be able to tell them anything if you wrap us around a tree." She insisted, grabbing the wheel as he started to drift a little. "We knew it was a long drive, it was a mistake leaving so late."

"The sooner we get back..."

"We're already most of the way there, but we're still at least an hour from the city." She reminded him. "Look, there's a Motor Lodge up ahead. We'll only stay for a few hours' sleep, then head out in the morning."

"You're right. We won't be much use to them if we don't get that message to them." Ji agreed, pulling into the parking lot. "I suppose we can only hope there is still time."


	16. Serrator's Plan Nearing Completion

On the Junk, Serrator was searching around frantically, growling loudly as he tossed some crates aside. Moogers ran and cowered from him as he continued his rampant search. Serrator's main characteristic was always his controlled, intellectual nature, but right now his temper brought back horrendous memories of Master Xandred.

"Where is it?" He snarled, tossing a Mooger aside as he rummaged through some netting. "Where the hell is it?"

Dayu walked in, having come back onto the ship through her own quarters to avoid his gaze. Octoroo came after her, quietly making his way over to another corner. Dayu just took a seat. Serrator spun around, throwing a barrel, which she casually dodged, allowing it to shatter on the beam by her head.

"Where the hell have you two been?" He asked.

"Two been, two been?" The Furry Worts started to chatter, bouncing down from the ceiling. This did absolutely nothing to abate his anger. Turning one of his hands into claws, he swiped it, obliterating a few of them. Dayu just sighed, clutching her pet Furry Wort, Dekker into herself for safety.

"Well, I can't speak for the walking sushi starter, but I was just tuning my Harmonium." She told him, picking up the instrument. "Would you like me to play it for you my master? It used to do such a wonderful job with Master Xandred's..."

"Do not MOCK ME!" Serrator warned her, grabbing her by the throat, lifting her off the ground. She dropped her Harmonium, and struggled against his grip. She watched as Octoroo secreted the locator among some crates. They had already used it to figure out the last part of Serrator's plan. They had used his locator to find the point of energy that Serrator had yet to attack. They now knew where the last of his attacks would take place; the only thing they didn't know was when. The only way they could carry on with their own scheme was to ensure Serrator didn't know that they were now only a step behind him in his scheme. "What did you do with it? Where is the...?"

Serrator wrapped some tentacles around his arm, trying to pull him off. Serrator though just dashed him into a wall dismissively. Octoroo slid to the floor, groaning as he advanced on him, before a little golden glint caught his eye. He walked across to it, reaching into the gap between some crates, and pulled it out. He felt relieved as he found it. Although he could find the location himself, the locator would make the process so much quicker. His plan, the one he had been putting together for centuries, was now only days from coming to fruition, and he could do without any more delays.

"Well, it seems I was a little too quick to judge you two." He declared, watching them struggling on the floor. "I thought you might actually have had the back bone to try and sabotage my grand plan."

"Well, technically noodle-face is an invertebrate." Dayu said snidely. Although they had a common agenda, in order for things to work, they had to convince Serrator they were still at odds. If he suspected they were acting against him, he would likely destroy them just to prevent the chances of them screwing up the plan he was obviously so close to its conclusion.

"Now, if you don't mind, I have something constructive to do." He announced, reaching into a chest, and pulling out a long, black cloak. Unlike any other cloak though, as soon as it was out in the air, it seemed to coil and shift, as though made of smoke. He pulled it on, and pulled a hood over his head, before heading off the ship. "This cloak will allow me an hour in the human world before their accursed Gap Sensors can track my signal. I trust you two can find something to keep yourselves occupied until then."

With that, he disappeared into the human world. Octoroo just got up, and looked around the wreckage.

"The sooner this is over the better." He commented.

"As usual, there is not much we agree on." Dayu told him, beginning to play her Harmonium. "But the sooner he makes his move, the sooner we can make ours."

Morning had broken in the Mortal realm, and Mal was in the hospital, impatiently waiting on the bed for the doctor to come. Although it had only been a couple of days, there really wasn't much more they could do at the hospital. His left knee was heavily bandaged, and supported with a brace to immobilise it while it healed, and a pair of crutches were waiting by his bed. There was no real reason for him to stay in the hospital; all he had to do was come back for his appointments to check how it was healing, and eventually for physiotherapy.

"Come on, how long does it take to tick a form?" Mal grumbled. His mother just held his hand.

"I'm sure they'll be here as soon as possible." She told him.

"But I want to get out of here!" He told them.

"Malcolm, you will wait patiently." His father said rather sternly. "If you want to heal properly, then you will do exactly as the doctors say."

"But..."

"I know you are impatient to get home and see your friends, but they are all in school." He reminded his son. "You be going back tomorrow, and I am more than sure they will be around after school, so there really is no rush."

Mal just crossed his arms defiantly and sulked as his parents kept their eye on him. Eventually, a doctor came in, carrying his discharge forms. Mal immediately perked up.

"Well Mr. Berkowsky, I'm sure you'll be glad to hear that you can go home soon, we just need to give you a few instructions." The doctor began. Just then, there was a knock on the door. They looked to the door, seeing a nurse standing with Melanie.

"I'm sorry to disturb you, but this young woman showed up and insisted on seeing the patient." She told him. Mal positively lit up to see her standing in the doorway.

"It'll be tight, but I should still be able to get to school." She greeted them, looking to Mal, smiling brightly. "I just had to see him this morning."

"I'm sure Mal won't mind us making a little detour on the way home." Mr Berkowsky surmised, waving her in, letting the doctors know that it was alright for her to be there. Melanie came across, sitting on the bed next to him, putting her arm around him. The doctor went back to his chart, pulling off a sheet and handing it to his mother.

"I have a feeling your son would prefer to read these instructions at home." The doctor chuckled. "Just make sure he doesn't over-exert himself."

"I'll do that." Mrs Berkowsky assured him.

"So, the nurse told me she already showed you how to get about on your crutches." The doctor commented. "So, would you like to walk out of here?"

"Too damn right!" Mal said with a huge grin, taking up the crutches. With the exception of his brief lesson on how to use his crutches, he had spent the last couple of days in bed. He was eager to get back on his feet, even if strictly speaking it was only going to be one of them. He positioned himself, and kicked off, bringing himself up onto his crutches, with Melanie and his mother both looking concerned, and ready to move in case he needed them to steady him. He turned, and looked to the door. "So, are we getting out of here or what?"

"Patience is a virtue son." Mr Berkowsky reminded him as they started to head out into the corridor. Melanie walked with him, a hand on his shoulder, the closest thing she could manage to holding his hand since he was operating the crutches. She was pleased to get him back out the hospital, even if this was only the beginning of his road to recovery.

In another part of town, Serrator leapt across some rooftops, stopping periodically to check his locator. He was close, and he knew it. His billowing cloak of magical smoke would keep the Rangers' attention from him for a little while longer. It took a lot of power, the reason he didn't use it often. However, his plans were so close to their conclusion, he could almost taste it.

Landing on a rooftop, the Locator started to spin wildly. Serrator looked down into the street, and smiled. He strained to see, and saw a subtle, purple miasma that was invisible to the naked human eye running through the area. This truly was it.

"Well, now I know where." He stated, putting the locator away. "Now all I need is to find the perfect Nighlock to cause the misery I need."

With that, he disappeared into a gap, before his cloak dissipated, and his presence would show up. The Rangers wouldn't know what hit them.

Speaking of the Rangers, at that point, they were all in the dojo. Given the energy released when Serena used Kasamune, her training wasn't really considered 'indoor friendly', and so they had opted to train inside. Jayden and Antonio were working on a heavy bag, while Kevin helped Mike with some weights, spotting him on a bench-press. Emily and Mia were on the sparring mat, taking the time while everyone else was distracted to talk.

"So, you really think Terry didn't buy it?" Emily asked her. Mia just looked at her and sighed.

"Emily, it's amazing any of them did." Mia answered. "Seriously, if they weren't all distracted by the movie and the popcorn, they'd have busted us for sure."

"Well, I...I guess that is my fault." Emily conceded. "I've always been a horrible liar. Everyone's always said so."

"It's normally an admirable trait." Mia conceded. "Except when you ARE trying to cover up for the fact you were eavesdropping!"

"You were too!" Emily protested. "Hell, it's not like I exactly twisted your arm to make you listen!"

Mia just sighed. Emily had a point. It wasn't like she exactly tried hard to resist the urge to join in.

"Besides, you were the one that left the evidence." Emily muttered as she helped Mia off the mat.

"I forgot alright?" Mia complained. "Look, we can't do anything about it now."

"So...what kind of vibe did you get from Terry earlier?" Emily asked her, taking up position again. They both started, keeping up the pretence that they were concentrating, while they discussed it.

"He's definitely suspicious." Mia told her. "He was pretty quiet though. I don't know if he knows, but he definitely knows we were up to something."

Just then, the door burst open, and they all turned to see what was happening. Ji and Brenda came running in, followed closely by Terry and Serena. In the distraction, Emily turned, losing sight of Mia, meaning that she ended up getting clocked in the face by an errant punch, while Kevin failed to notice that Mike was starting to falter with the weights, which were now resting on his chest, crushing him.

"Ji?" Jayden asked. "We weren't expecting you until tomorrow."

"We think we have important information." Ji told them. "An idea came to me..."

He stopped as Brenda cleared her throat. He looked to her and smiled, pulling her closer. Strictly speaking, it had been her that had noticed the pattern, albeit by accident.

"An idea came to us while we were relaxing at the retreat." He told them. "We think we know what Serrator is planning."

"What?" Jayden asked, as Mia picked Emily up off the floor, apologising profusely while the Yellow Ranger held a hand over her eye. "You have a theory?"

"Come with me." Ji told them. "Kevin, help Mike before he chokes."

Kevin turned around, noticing now that Mike was turning red, helping him lift the weights off him, racking them and helping the Green Ranger up, before following Ji through to the main room to hear what he had to say.


	17. Falling Into Place

With Serrator out of the way for the time being, Dayu and Octoroo split off to bring their own agenda forward. They both knew what was at stake if Serrator was successful. With Xandred gone, there was no Nighlock capable of taking him down before he enacted his plan. All they could do was orchestrate events in any way they could to ensure that he was unsuccessful.

Octoroo was trudging through a valley, searching intently. Having guessed what Serrator was up to, he knew that soon he would need another powerful warrior. He had surmised that if he was going ahead, then the best thing they could do was have as much of the process under their control as possible. With that in mind, Octoroo was looking for a Nighlock to present to Serrator that he knew. He knew many powerful and vile Nighlock, and he was keen to ensure that he was aware of as much of the workings of this process as possible.

Hearing a noise a little way off, he smiled as he realised he had found who he was looking for. Although in the case of this Nighlock, he thought that 'what' would be a more accurate description. He approached a dark cave, where he heard horrifying noises echoing from within, and the air wafting from the entrance stank of putrid, rotting flesh. Water...he thought...dripped from the ceiling, which was so low, even he would have had to stoop to enter. He peered inside, hoping to see signs of his would-be ally.

"No further!" A raspy voice warned him. It wasn't much of a warning really, the stench alone meant Octoroo would rather try to slap Xandred than enter. He pulled something out of his coat, a large piece of rotten meat, and threw it inside.

"I bring you a gift old friend." Octoroo called inside. He waited for a moment to see if the gift was accepted. Although he called the beast 'old friend', it was still somewhat of a moody creature. Hearing feeding sounds, he figured that the gift had been accepted.

"Speak." The creature announced.

"Very soon, Serrator will be looking for a powerful Nighlock for a very particular attack." Octoroo told him.

"Serrator." The creature growled. "I have no interest in that..."

"I would like to present you to him for the job." Octoroo stated, taking a step forward. "I would very much like you to be the one he sends on this mission."

"You're up to something." The Nighlock stated.

"Always." Octoroo chuckled in response. "Although you've known me long enough to know that I'll make sure it's worth your while."

"Still, Serrator..."

"If it makes you feel any better, treat it like you're working for me." Octoroo interrupted him. He pulled out some more rotten meat. "So, how about it?"

Throwing it into the cave, he heard sounds of feeding.

"We have an accord Octoroo." The Nighlock answered. "Better the devil you know."

Mike was sitting, a little hunched on his chair, bringing his breathing back to normal after his mishap with the weights bench, while Kevin checked on him, constantly apologising for losing sight of the fact that he was starting to struggle. Jayden and Antonio were sitting by Brenda, while Ji set a bag beside the table, waiting for the others to arrive.

Serena and Terry were sitting in the corner, a little way off. Although they were not active on the team, they were still permitted to sit in on team meetings. It was a fact of life that anyone who chose to stay at the Shiba House was always going to be at risk of fallout from the Rangers' battles, and so most took the attitude that fore-warned was fore-armed. If something was going down that was so serious that Ji would cancel his honeymoon, it was best they know about it.

Mia came in with Emily last, the Yellow Ranger holding a bag of peas wrapped in a dish towel to her left eye. When Ji had come bursting in, they all became distracted. In the case of Emily and Mia, who were already distracted by the fact they were discussing whether or not they thought Terry believed they had been eavesdropping (which, to be fair, they had been), that a mistake was inevitable. In this instance, it was Emily who caught the rough end.

"Emily, I'm so sorry." Mia reiterated for the millionth time. "Please, just let me have a look."

"I told you I'll be fine." Emily answered, letting her see. The flesh was quite red, and there was the starts of a dark circle forming. Although the peas were helping with the swelling, it seemed likely she would end up with a black eye.

"Are we all quite ready?" Ji asked, reminding everyone they were there for a meeting.

"Sorry Mentor." Mia murmured.

"Go ahead Ji." Jayden beckoned him. "You had something to tell us?"

Emily put the peas back, before they all fell silent and concentrated on the task at hand.

Ji pulled up a map of the city, drawing their attention to it. Ji pressed a couple of locations, lighting them up as the Rangers watched him.

"These are all the attacks we have encountered since Serrator returned from the Sanzu River." Ji explained. He then tapped a couple of the locations on the map, turning them from blue to red. "However, having studied the attacks more closely, not all of them were orchestrated by Serrator. Some were Octoroo's doing, others were Xandred's independent of Serrator. These are the ones that fit those criteria. If we remove them, and leave only the attacks planned by Serrator..."

He removed the blips, leaving only the blue markers which signalled Octoroo's attacks, the Rangers squinted a bit, trying to see what he was getting at. Kevin finally sat forward.

"They're...they're all in a straight line." Kevin stated. Ji drew a line through them all, showing that he was right.

"We think that is more than a mere coincidence." Ji told them. He reached into his bag, pulling out two rocks, and his geology hammer. They all watched him, a little confused, while Jayden just covered his eyes and shook his head, letting out a bored sigh.

"God, not the rocks Ji." He sighed.

"What?" Antonio asked.

"Ji likes to break up rocks for fun." Jayden explained offhand. Brenda reached across, touching his knee.

"Believe me; I don't get the appeal either." She assured him, before looking to the others. "He's interested in geology. The study of minerals."

"Ji marked a line in both of the rocks with the chisel end of the hammer, before turning it around.

"What he has done is to create areas greatly weakened through areas of great misery." He explained to them. "By plotting these weak points strategically, he has created a stress line in the Earth, just like I have done with these rocks."

"He loves this part." Brenda said as he prepared to strike. He hit one of the rocks, splitting it neatly in two. The Rangers all looked at it, then back to him in horror.

"You mean...he wants to do that to our world?" Emily gasped. "Why?"

"By splitting an opening between the two worlds, the Sanzu River would flood through, instead of simply seeping through a little at a time as it has been." Ji explained. "The world would be flooded, and humanity would be overwhelmed. The power it would grant Serrator would leave him alone to rule both worlds."

"I just have one question." Antonio said nervously, still trying to imagine seeing the world being quite literally split open. "If there is a way to do this, to flood the world in an instant, then why hasn't Xandred tried it before now?"

"I believe it is a dangerous plan, a huge gamble." Ji stated. "Yes, it is possible that it would end the war in victory for the Nighlock in an instant, but I believe that most Nighlock are too afraid to take the risk of the possible outcome."

"What outcome?" Mike asked. Ji brought down the hammer on the other rock, one which he had examined for this demonstration. This one, instead of splitting neatly into two, shattered into pieces, scattering all over the table and floor. The Rangers all looked completely horrified by the demonstration.

"If it isn't done right, I believe that it has the possibility to destroy both worlds." Ji told them. "This is all or nothing. Either Serrator will gain enough power to rule both worlds, and be indestructible..."

"Or everyone's destroyed." Kevin summarised. "Either way we lose!"

"Then we can't allow either to happen." Jayden concluded. "So how long do we have?"

"I doubt it will be long." Ji told them, picking up his bag. "I shall go and get changed. I'll join you for training shortly."

"Thanks Ji." Jayden answered. "If we are playing for all the cards, I'll need everyone on board."

Later in the day, after school, Bulk picked up the kids. Cody and Spike had been excused from training for the day, since Kieran knew that they were more interested in getting to see Mal now that he was home.

It wasn't a long car ride, but all of them were excited, and eager to see him. Pulling up outside his house, Melanie was out of the car like a shot, running up the path. Spike, Cody and Vicky weren't far behind her. Bulk just laughed, shaking his head as he locked up the car. He knew that they had every right to be happy. Given the situation, things could have been a whole lot worse. When Spike had gotten home, he had been immensely proud of him, having heard about his part in helping to break the siege. That said, he was also divided in equal measures between being relieved that he had come out alright, and screaming at him for putting himself in harms' way, risking himself to confront the gunmen. As much as he applauded him for his courage and quick-thinking, he also wanted to beat him senseless for facing down that situation.

As he got to the door, Mr Berkowsky allowed him in. He shook Bulk's hand politely. Things had been a little frosty between them before; the first time they met was when Mal had come to his home, having run away from his father over the Melanie situation.

"I heard Mal's doing well." Bulk greeted him. "I know I'm not Spike's dad, but I know I feel sick to my stomach any time anything happens to him. You must be so relieved."

"It doesn't bear thinking about what could have happened." Mr Berkowsky agreed as he guided Bulk through to the kitchen where Mrs Berkowsky was sitting. "We figured the kids could use a little privacy."

"That would probably be advisable." He agreed.

"Would you like some cocoa?" Mrs Berkowsky asked him. "Mal loves the stuff, and I'm just making some for the kids."

"That would be lovely." He told her.

In the main room, Mal shifted on the couch as Melanie put her arm around him. He smiled, seeing Spike and Vicky taking seats across from him, while Cody and Jimmy fought over the remaining chair, a conflict which was quickly resolved as Cody dumped Jimmy on the floor.

"So, how have you been?" Spike asked him.

"Pretty good, I'm coming back tomorrow!" Mal informed them, squeezing Melanie a little tighter.

"Mal, that's great!" Spike shrieked. "Seriously, that soon?"

"Hey, I don't want to miss too much school do I?" He asked them. "So, what have things been like at school?"

"Things have been pretty crazy to be honest." Jimmy told him. "Spike's back to being the talk of the school again! Everyone's been asking him about..."

"Yeah, but I don't really want to talk about it." Spike cut him off. "Don't worry; it isn't going to be a 'King of You Tube' thing again."

"Also, everyone's asking after you." Cody added.

"They are?" Mal asked, looking a little curious to hear this. He had never been one of the popular kids. Those that did know who he was tended to believe he was a loser.

"Yeah, you're a legend!" Jimmy called out, looking at him excitedly. "You tackled a guy with a gun! Everyone thinks you're awesome!"

"Wow, I should get shot more often." Mal said with little laugh. Melanie smacked him.

"Don't even joke about that!" Vicky screamed, causing them to look at her. She shrunk away a little, realising she had blurted that out. She had been terrified through the whole ordeal. Not only had she watched one of her best friends being shot, she had then watched as Melanie was taken away, and as Spike volunteered to go with them. She had been going out of her mind when he had agreed to go; terrified something would happen to him too. She hated to think that he could have ended up hurt too, or worse. She's had nightmares that the worst had happened, that he had ended up being killed before she could tell him what he meant to her. "It's just...you shouldn't joke about that!"

"Alright, sorry it was a bad joke." Mal said apologetically as his mom came in. "Alright, now this wills more than make up for it. My mom's cocoa is amazing!"

"There are fresh chocolate chip cookies too." Mrs Berkowsky told them, laying the tray down. "Enjoy."

"Thanks Mrs Berkowsky!" They all chorused, watching her leave them to their private moment. Mal took his first sip, glad to be around his friends. Being back with them would be so much better than all the hospital care in the world. Who cares what the doctors said. He would be back on his feet in no time.

**A/N:** OK, I'm going to take a break here, since the next chapter will take place through the events of the next ep. Expect the next one on Saturday.


	18. Crack in the World

Dayu was alone on the Junk when Octoroo came back. Wherever Serrator had gone, it was clear that it would take him some time to get back. She just looked to her co-conspirator, hoping that he had good news.

"It's done." He told her. "We're nearly ready."

"I understand." Dayu told him. "I guess now it's my turn to disappear."

With that, she slipped into her quarters, closing the door behind her. Octoroo didn't have to wait long for Serrator to appear. The sinister Nighlock came onto the deck, carrying the locator in one hand, and cradling a long, curved sword in the other. Serrator smiled as he saw it. Despite all his scheming, despite keeping everyone else in the dark for so long, he had one major failing. His arrogance and impatience were such that now his plans were obviously within days of fruition; he was becoming careless and predictable. Obviously he was so close; he no longer believed he could fail.

"With Master Xandred still soaking in the Sanzu River, it seems you're free to complete your plan." Octoroo stated, helping him aboard. "I see you even retrieved Urumasa, just like you promised Dekker."

Serrator held the sword closely. It wasn't Urumasa, it was only a facsimile, but for his plan to work, he didn't need it to be the true Urumasa. All he needed was Dekker, a warrior that had centuries of both human and Nighlock misery within him to enact the final stages. The only reason he needed the sword was to convince Dekker that he had fulfilled his bargain so that he would perform his duty. Of course, the last thing he wanted was to risk any kind of incident when he was so close. There was no reason to make Dekker too powerful and risk him becoming a threat.

"Octoroo?" He asked. "What are you...?"

"I've figured out what you're doing." Octoroo put down flatly. "I figured it out some time ago. Well, a few days ago anyway. You're trying to crack open the world and flood the Earth with the Sanzu River."

"My, but that is impressive." Serrator scoffed. "And it only took you..."

"I even figured out that you need Dekker to deliver the final strike." Octoroo interrupted him before he could insult him further. "You don't have the power to do it yourself, or you would have. You know that Master Xandred would never have risked cracking open the Earth, he'd be too worried about the consequences. That's why you cursed Dekker. To create someone who could deliver the final strike needed to create the rupture and flood the Earth. That's why you offered to repair and return Urumasa to him."

"Well, I have to say I am impressed. You finally figured it out." Serrator said condescendingly, pulling out his weapon. "But if you think for one minute you can stop me when I'm this close..."

"Who said I want to stop you?" Octoroo interrupted him. Serrator just looked a little surprised. "The Rangers get stronger every day, and there's no telling how much longer Master Xandred will be soaking in the Sanzu. You forget, while you were happily sleeping at the bottom of the river, I was sealed here, awake and aware of the fact I was trapped, unable to leave. I...I can't go back to that!"

"Are you saying you've finally found a spine and are willing to defy Master Xandred?" Serrator asked him. Octoroo just nodded.

"I even brought you the last thing you need." Octoroo told him. With that, he went to the side of the ship. "Pestilox! It's time!"

A Nighlock came up over the side of the ship, climbing onto the deck. It was one of the most hideous things even Serrator had ever seen, and it smelled even worse. Its head looked like what could only be described as a tangle of blood-red maggots, and it smelled of rotting animal flesh. It approached them both.

"I've used Pestilox in the past from time to time; plague is something that really gets the human suffering flowing thick and fast." Octoroo explained. "Why, I'm sure he has just the thing cooked up within him, ready to release on the unsuspecting population that will really cause them to suffer before they finally succumb, easily enough to create your final wedge."

"Well, I have to say I am surprised Octoroo. You really seem to have come through on this one." Serrator drawled, inspecting Pestilox closely, trying not to breathe too deeply because of the stench. "Of course, if you know what I'm doing, you know that it is not without risk. I would have thought you'd value your own hide too much to risk..."

"Like I said, I was sealed down here once, and that was only for fifteen years." Octoroo reminded him. "With Xandred gone, and the Red Ranger able to practice the sealing symbol uninterrupted, it's only a matter of time before we're sealed down here forever. I can't live that existence, I'd rather be obliterated."

"Well then, let's see what this Pestilox can do." Serrator commented, handing him the locator. "Go and create misery where the locator starts to glow. Drive a wedge of human misery deep into the Earth. Do well, and you will be rewarded."

Pestilox just took the locator, and headed into the Human world.

Back in the human realm, Mal's dad pulled up outside of the school. He had decided that it was probably best that his son didn't have to travel too far on his crutches, and it was only his first day back. He looked to his son and sighed.

"You know, you don't have to rush back so quickly." He reminded him. "I'm sure your teachers would be only too happy to send work home for you."

"Dad, you know as well as I do that if I stay at home, I'll just end up as bald as Uncle Herschel tearing my hair out." He told him. "Besides, you know that Melanie and the others will take care of me. I doubt any other kids will get within six feet of my leg."

"They are a good group." His dad conceded. "I don't mind admitting being completely wrong about Melanie. She really is a very special girl."

"I know that dad." Mal said with a little smile. "Sometimes I keep waiting to wake up, trying to imagine what I could have done to deserve someone like her."

"Well, it looks like your friends are waiting." Mr Berkowsky stated, leaning over and opening his son's door. Mal reached into the back, carefully fishing out his crutches as he got out onto his one good leg. He took up position. "Now remember, I gave you the number of the hospital, the doctor, and my office. If you need anything and your mother isn't available..."

"I'll be fine dad." Mal assured him, closing the car door. "I'll see you back at home."

As Mr Berkowsky pulled away, he found himself grabbed on both sides, Vicky and Melanie hugging him tightly in greeting. He just started laughing.

"Now, this is the kind of greeting I could get used to." He stated as they released him. He turned, finding Spike, Cody and Jimmy all standing before him.

"Well, the conqueror returns." Spike greeted him. "How does it feel to be back?"

"Well, I never thought I'd see the day when I said this, but I've really been looking forward to it." Mal told them. "I need to see the gym teacher. I can't take part in any sports, but the doctor gave me some exercises to give to them that should help."

"Well, we'll make sure you get..."

"Hey Berkowsky!" Another student yelled. Mal looked up, seeing it was one of the seniors. He could vaguely remember seeing the guy around, but they had never spoken. He wasn't even sure how the guy would know his name. "You're awesome!"

He heard a cheer go up, and couldn't help smiling. He was starting to see why Spike had gotten so carried away with the whole "King of Youtube" thing. It felt great as he went to the main door up the wheelchair ramp, hearing a number of people chanting him, and having a couple pat him on the shoulder. Melanie seemed somewhat less impressed when a couple of girls tried to give him their numbers, but he politely refused. Getting inside, he found Mrs Kaplan waiting for him.

"Malcolm, I heard you were coming today." Mrs Kaplan greeted him. "If you wouldn't mind coming to my office..."

"Actually I have to see..."

"Please, it will only take a moment." She assured him. "We just want to make everything as simple for you while you recover as possible."

Mal and Melanie headed off to Mrs Kaplan's office, while everyone else dispersed, heading for their classes.

Elsewhere in town, Pestilox stood atop a huge tower, checking on the locator. Seeing it giving off a bright purple glow, he knew he had the right place.

"Well, this is the place Octoroo." He commented. "Time to go to work!"

In the Shiba House, Ji was just getting off the phone with a worried look on his face. Brenda noticed this and came to his side.

"Ji, what is it?" She asked. "We're all worried about Serrator..."

"Sorry?" He asked, like he had only just realised she was there. It was almost as if he was only just joining the conversation. She took his hand gently.

"Ji, who was that?" She asked him.

"It was Bernard." He informed her. Brenda just furrowed her brows.

"Bernard, isn't he the attendant at the retreat?" She asked him. He nodded his head in response. "What did he want? Did we leave some luggage or something? We did leave in kind of a hurry."

"No, it is something else." Ji informed her. "Someone arrived at the retreat seeking refuge, someone who knew of our ways. He said she was..."

"What?" Brenda asked as he tailed off. "Ji, what is it?"

"He said he thinks it may be..." Before he could finish, the Gap Sensor sounded. Ji ran into the Living Room, finding the Rangers and Serena, all with the notable exceptions of Terry and Antonio standing around the map. A new location had shown up, and sure enough it was right on the same line as all the others.

"With each new location, it's like he's cutting the Earth in two!" Emily commented. "Mentor, it looks like you're right!"

"This is way too much to be a coincidence." Mike agreed.

"Well, the only thing that's getting cut is Serrator's plan." Jayden stated. "Come on guys, we'll head out there. Ji, call ahead to Antonio, he was fishing right near there, he should be able to get there quicker than we will. You be ready in case you're needed. If this is Serrator, we may need the Black Ranger."

As they ran out, Brenda looked like she wanted to continue their conversation about the phone call, but Ji was too busy phoning Antonio on his morpher. Brenda looked to Serena, who was chewing her fingernails nervously.

"Serena, what is it?" Brenda asked her.

"We ordered our Halloween costumes early this year. Emily insisted she didn't want to be a bunny again." She informed Brenda. "Terry went out to collect them from the store in Eastwood Mall."

"That's...that's only a couple of streets from them!" Brenda stammered as she realised what Serena was getting at. She pulled her in closer, holding her warmly. Serena couldn't take her eyes off the map, begging any deity that would listen that Terry would not take a route home that took him through the site of the battle. Without a morpher, he would be a sitting duck.

At the site of the battle, Pestilox hadn't taken long getting to work. His special attack allowed him to send out a swarm of flies that would infect anyone in the area with his choice of the plagues that existed within him. Since Octoroo and Serrator had emphasised that they wanted people to suffer, he had chosen one that very quickly caused crippling stomach pains, reducing grown men to tears and bringing them to their knees. By the time Antonio arrived, he was standing, gloating over his victims.

"Yes, what a sight for sore stomachs, this will cause more than enough misery." He remarked. "Serrator can create his final wedge right here!"

"Whoa, this isn't good." Antonio gasped, seeing the people lying on the ground, writing in agony, clutching at their stomachs like they were about to explode. He knew of Ji's theory, and if it was correct, then this much misery in one place had to be a good contender for creating one of the theoretical 'wedges' of misery. "Stop right there Nighlock!"

"Oh, you want to get in on this too?" He asked as Antonio launched into the air, coming at him with a hard slash.

"What did you do to those people?" Antonio demanded as he started to assault the disgusting Nighlock. Eventually it smashed its hands into his chest, driving him back some distance as it stood over some victims.

"I just gave them a stomach bug, and there's no cure!" He told him.

"Oh yeah? Well what if I defeat you?" Antonio asked him. "In my experience, any spell a Nighlock puts in place disappears once it's gone. So I guess I have to make you a goner!"

"You can't if you're sick too!" Pestilox roared, sending forth a swarm of flies from his flesh. Antonio saw them coming, and remembered everything he had ever heard about flies carrying disease. This must be how he spread his plague. Summoning up his Light Symbol Power, Antonio started slashing this way and that in desperation, hoping to cut them all down. If even one of them got to him, then it was all over for him, and he still needed to last until the others arrived.

By the time the last fly was dealt with, his arms felt like lead, and he could only watch as Pestilox spat a glowing blue goop at him. Fortunately, just in time, Jayden arrived, placing his Fire Smasher between them and the goop, blocking it. Emily and Mia were quickly at his side, while Mike and Kevin made their entrance, leaping over Pestilox, kicking him in the face, before ending up standing by their team.

"Watch out, he can summon up swarms of plague flies." Antonio informed them. "It's what he used to make all these people sick."

"They're not the only things I can summon up." Pestilox announced, as a contingent of Moogers ran into the street. The Rangers all looked around, realising they were now surrounded.

Rushing off in all directions to deal with the new threat, they didn't realise that Serrator was watching, waiting for his moment to act.

Back at the Shiba House, Ji was watching the battle when the Gap Sensor sounded again. He looked to the computer, seeing a spike of energy coming from the battle ground. He went to the surveillance, and started to look around, finding Serrator crouching on a rooftop not far from their position. He reached for his Samuraizer, snatching it up as he headed for the door.

"Brenda, whatever happens, do not leave the house!" Ji instructed her. He looked into her eyes, before drawing her in, kissing her softly. Serena just looked away, thinking about what Ji had with Brenda. It was something she longed to have for herself, something she had once believed she had found, only to have it taken away again by Serrator. Now, she found herself in moments daring to hope that she had found it again. Ji ran from the house, morphing as he went.

Back at the site of the battle, Pestilox watched the Moogers distracting the Rangers and took his moment to strike. Seeing Jayden and Kevin's backs were turned, he launched a swarm of his plague flies.

"Forest Spear, Forest Vortex!" Mike called out, summoning up his attack as he dived between them, sweeping the flies up in the ensuing winds, dispersing them to their fate. Seeing his opening, while Pestilox was distracted Jayden summoned up his Fire Smasher.

"Tiger Cannon!" He called out, aiming it at him and firing. "Blazing Strike!"

"Return to sender!" Serrator taunted him, leaping in the way of the blast and catching it in his claws, before throwing it back at them. Jayden had switched the Fire Smasher back into blade mode, and cut the blast in two, sending the two halves spinning harmlessly away into the buildings behind with loud explosions.

Seeing Serrator there, at that particular battle finally confirmed what they all believed, that Ji was right and Serrator had put all the eggs into one basket. This was an all-or-nothing attack. If he won, then everyone lost. If he tried and failed to create the opening properly, then everyone lost. Seeing his disregard for life, both Human and Nighlock made her blood boil, and she could only think of the night she watched him break Stephen's neck without the slightest hint of remorse. Snatching up the Black Box, she prepared for battle.

"Super Samurai Mode!" Emily called out; rushing for him, but Serrator was able to block the strike with his blade, holding it aside.

"Rangers, stop your meddling!" He demanded. "My conquest is more important than your petty vengeance!"

"If you think all I care about is getting back at you for killing Stephen then you don't know anything at all!" Emily screamed. "We've seen the pattern to your attacks, and we're here to tell you it's the end of the line!"

"So, you really think you know what I'm up to do you?" Serrator asked them, before throwing Emily's sword aside and hacking down across his chest. "Well, no matter! Very soon, the final wedge will be in place, and there's no way you can stop it!"


	19. The Final Wedge

In the mall, a little way from the battle, Terry was sitting on a chair, listening to his i-pod, blissfully unaware that anything was happening. He had loved his time as the Pink Ranger, and he was only too happy to hand the power back to Mia, but at times like this, he sometimes wished he had a more active role in the team. Since he was not a Ranger, and had no powers of any real description beyond his innate wind powers, which were nowhere near as impressive, or powerful enough to be of much use in battle without the use of a Samuraizer, he had to do something to earn his keep around the house. He was only too happy to use his limited medical knowledge to help the others with their injuries, and any illnesses that came up, he also usually ended up getting some of the minor chores and errands to run to free up the others to train and to do battle.

Today, he didn't mind so much, his errand was a surprisingly enjoyable one. He had been sent to a local costume shop to pick up the costumes the Rangers had picked out for their Halloween party. He had seen the pictures from the previous year, and knew that they were eager to prevent any mistakes like those they had encountered the previous year. Both Mike and Antonio had ended up going as the same character from a video game, and Emily through virtue of forgetting about the party until the last minute, had ended up spending the whole night as a pink bunny rabbit, getting teased about it for the whole night. This year, they were planning ahead.

When he got to the store though, it turned out that the costumes they had ordered were still not finished. Since they were buying them, not renting them, they were being made to order, and so there were still some adjustments to be made. Terry was only too happy to wait, since it got him out of the house for a while.

He looked up as he felt a tap on the shoulder. Looking up, he saw Dayu standing beside him, holding a bag, containing his order. He got up, taking it from her, and looked inside, checking the contents quickly.

"Well, it looks like everything's here." He remarked. "And hey, may not love the character, but that's an excellent costume! It's really..."

"Not another word pink brat." Dayu hissed in warning, pulling the head of her Harmonium up a little, to expose a little of the blade. Terry quickly realised his mistake, this wasn't a sales assistant in a costume, this was the real deal. "Unless you want to see what happens when I decide to have a little temper tantrum in a crowded mall."

Terry gulped as he thought about this. Not only was he not anywhere near strong enough to take her on without powers, she had a point. The store was not large, and it was full of people. If Dayu did decide to start anything, then there was no way that everyone would get out unharmed. People just doing their shopping would find their lives in danger. He just looked to her.

"What do you want?" He asked her.

"I just want to have a little chat with you about your girlfriend, the Blessed Warrior." She told him, putting an arm around him and walking with him out of the store. "I was just planning to ask you a little favour. I need you to deliver a message."

Back at the site of the battle, Serrator and Pestilox were taking the Rangers to task. Even with Emily throwing herself in her full rage, backed up by Super Samurai Mode, Serrator was just a little too strong for her. After a particularly vicious attack, Emily was sent flying into the others, sending them all to the ground.

"You really think you can stop me don't you?" Serrator asked. "Don't you get it? My plan has been in motion for centuries! It's gathered far too much momentum! There's no way for it to be stopped now!"

He turned to Pestilox.

"The final wedge is nearly complete." He told him. "Go and scare up some more suffering among the humans. Leave me to deal with them!"

"Suffering humans, coming up!" Pestilox stated, walking away.

"Stop him!" Jayden ordered, at which they all started to charge towards Pestilox's exposed back. Serrator just stepped in the way.

"Oh, you're so annoying! But it doesn't matter!" Serrator announced, blasting them all with lightning. They all stood, rooted to the spot, screaming in agony as he sent the charge through them mercilessly. He started to laugh, seeing the way they suffered, up until he was struck from behind, and sent flying into a wall. He turned in time to see the Shark Sabre coming his way, slashing at him another half dozen times, forcing him to the ground. He looked up to see the Black Ranger, standing in Shark Attack Mode, glaring at him.

"Ji, we're glad to see you." Jayden stated.

"Whatever else happens, we must stop that final wedge from being placed!" Ji stated. Jayden nodded in agreement.

"Emily, Mia, you two come with me." He instructed them. "Antonio, Mike, Kevin, you stay and help Ji with Serrator. Keep him off us until we can squash this bug once and for all!"

"Got it!" They chorused as the rest of the guys charged Serrator, attacking him for all they were worth. As Emily, Mia and Jayden were running after Pestilox, Emily was about to detach the Black Box, only to be stopped by Jayden.

"No Emily, you're doing great." Jayden complimented her. "Finish what you started."

She summoned up the Bullzooka, as they arrived, finding Pestilox about to attack more civilians.

"Time to find out if all that time playing videogames with Mike really was a waste of time." Emily commented, levelling the blaster his way. "Bulzooka blast!"

Pestilox screamed in pain as the blast caught him full in the face, sending him tumbling backwards. Emily couldn't help smiling, thinking that when this was over, Mike was never going to let her live down that most of her target practice had come from the video games that everyone kept telling him were a waste of time he could be training properly. Mia put a hand on her shoulder.

"You're doing great Emily!" Mia complimented her. "We'll get these people out of here, you just keep it up!"

"No problem!" Emily stated with authority, preparing for another salvo. "Serrator's hurt too many people for too long, and I owe him. Once I'm done with you, I'm sending him straight after you!"

Back at the Shiba House, Brenda and Serena were keeping track of the battles, waiting to see if something could turn the tide their way. Serena was busy whetting the edge of Kasamune, eager for a chance to be able to do something, anything at all to help. It was a pointless task, exactly like Urumasa, the supernatural nature of her sword meant it was always sharp. Brenda though clenched her jaw as all she could hear was the scraping of stone against steel, again and again, cutting through her like a drill.

"Damn it Serena, can't you do something else?" She demanded. Serena dropped the stone as she was surprised, running her hand along the blade. Fortunately, part of Kasamune's supernatural abilities was that it would not cut anything unless she willed it, just as well since it was possible that otherwise she could have lost a finger, or at very least a significant portion of her palm.

"Sorry, I'm just nervous I guess." She stammered. All she could think about was Terry, and the fact there was still no word from him since he had gone out. They had tried calling and texting him, but so far they had gotten no answer. Just then, there was an alarm from outside. Serena snatched up Kasamune and ran outside into the yard, closely followed by Brenda. Getting there, they saw Dayu standing just outside the gates, just beyond the protection of the symbols, holding Terry by the scruff of the neck.

"You should really be more careful with your loved ones." She sneered. "Next time, I might not be so generous in returning your pets."

She threw Terry to the ground, inside the fence, meaning that she was no longer able to harm him. She threw the bags of costumes in after him, into his chest as he lay on the ground.

"What do you want Dayu?" Serena asked her, raising up her sword over her shoulder. Dayu just looked at her, and could remember feeling a fire in herself just like she saw in Serena. It was the same fire that had been burning for centuries, and had quite literally led her through Hell and back just for the slightest of chances of being reunited with the man she loved.

"Just like I said, I was just returning your pet." She reiterated. "Try to keep him on a tighter leash. There are some...unsavoury characters out there."

With that, she disappeared into a gap. Serena just ran to Terry's side, dropping Kasamune as she did so.

"Terry, are you alright?" Serena rushed out. "What did she do to you?"

"Nothing." Terry assured her. "She...she did nothing."

"Then what was all that about?" Serena asked him. Terry just looked to her.

"She wanted to ask me a favour." He answered. "Well, more accurately, she wanted to ask you a favour. I'm just the messenger."

Serena helped him up, and retrieved her sword, before escorting him inside to hear what had happened.

Back at the site of the battle, Serrator was holding his own against Ji, Mike, Kevin and Antonio. Despite being a schemer by nature, he was still a powerful warrior in his own right. Antonio called forth the Light Zord, swinging it into Serrator for all he was worth, remembering that the first time they encountered him; it was the first weapon to inflict any form of harm on him. Unfortunately, even with their combined might, with all the power at their disposal, they just weren't causing enough damage.

Serrator grabbed Ji around the throat, picking him up and driving him down into the concrete, shattering it beneath him. He just laughed as the Black Ranger rolled away, only to be helped back up.

"Is this all you have?" Serrator asked them. "You have..."

Just then, his words tailed off. The Rangers all looked up, seeing Dekker standing behind him. He had his replacement sword, the Bane of Life, levelled at Serrator's back. He just chuckled.

"Ah, well, well, Dekker, what an unexpected surprise." He drawled sarcastically, no hint of surprise in his voice at all. He had been planning this for centuries, he had thought of every possible move, and he had weighed every possible outcome. He knew that Dekker would not simply wait until he came to him with the sword that he would claim was Urumasa. He could even imagine Dayu going to him, imploring him to see reason and to realise that Serrator would never simply give him back his sword. He started to turn to look at him.

"Spare me. You know why I'm here." Dekker announced, just as he had practiced. His part in the plan was to go along with what Serrator had planned for now, and convince him he still didn't know that it was all a ruse. He already knew that whatever Serrator had planned, he would get the best opportunity to foil it right at the end of the game. He hated these games, and wanted to face him like a man, but for now, he was forced to play Serrator at his own game.

"Of course, you've come for your real sword Urumasa." He answered. "My plan is reaching its climax."

As he pointed aside, Dekker looked to the people suffering on the ground. The Rangers looked too, seeing a purple glow coming from them.

"That glow is their misery, creating a wedge in the Earth." Serrator stated, before skipping away from him, turning to face Dekker. "And, surprise! It's the final wedge I need!"

Dekker just looked on, realising that this was what Octoroo and Dayu had planned all along. Although they had figured out most of it, there were still a few details missing, such as what his part in the whole scheme was to be. This was what they were banking on, that Serrator was now so close, that his arrogance would cause him to spill his guts. Now, they didn't need to figure out the rest of his plan, he was about to sing it from the rooftops of his own free will.

"All my attacks have been designed to create a stress line in the Earth, a line of human misery." Serrator explained. "I used Xandred's hapless monsters, and a few of my own to accomplish my ends, finding weaknesses in the Earth, I focused the attacks on them, creating saturated points, wedges of misery that would weaken them further. Orchestrating a symphony of human misery to achieve my brilliant objective!"

"Man, this guy doesn't need a press agent." Mike muttered through his pain. "He can talk himself up just fine on his own."

"Now, each of the wedges I've created are ready to be activated to create my stress line." He concluded.

"No!" Kevin called out. "You can't do this! You'll destroy both worlds!"

"Accept your fate. We're at the end of my perfect plan, and at the end of the world as you know it!" Serrator announced, clearly ignoring Kevin's warning about the possibility of destroying both worlds. "Welcome to the start of my reign! Once this wedge is in place, the world will be ready to burst at the seams, and I'll have the stress point I need, ready for one final strike to end it all. With one mighty stroke, I will flood the Earth with the Sanzu River. Not with a trickle like Master Xandred planned, but with a mighty torrent the likes of which have never been seen, a cascade that will eclipse your puny biblical Great Flood! The Earth will be entirely submerged in the evil red waters of the Sanzu River and will be free to rule both worlds! With the power at my disposal then, not even Xandred will be a match for me!"

Dekker just stood, listening impatiently. Even if it weren't for the fact he knew he factored into this plan, he knew that he wouldn't be able to go through with it. After all, if the Earth flooded, then everything would be destroyed, including all the great warriors, both present and future, the ones who could finally release him from his curse. Even if he wasn't part of the plan, he would not be able to allow Serrator to win.

Just then, they heard a huge explosion a little way off, shortly following which, all the people on the ground started to stir and come around. They all looked like they had been miraculously healed, something which was confirmed, when as soon as they realised what was in front of them, they all took to heel, running away as fast as they could, screaming all the way.

"So, Pestilox's first form has been defeated." Serrator stated. "No matter, the wedge is complete, and soon it will sink into the Earth!"

"Then I guess we have no choice but to make sure you don't get a chance to activate it!" Ji called out, getting back to his feet. "Come on! Everything we have! We need to buy the others time to destroy Pestilox once and for all!"

At the other battle, Emily was holding the still-smoking Super Bullzooka, flipping open the disk chamber.

"These guys never know when to quit!" She complained. "Jayden, do you...?"

"I meant it Emily, this is your lead." Jayden told her. "Finish what you started, you're doing great!"

"Super Samurai combination, Claw Armour MegaZord!" She announced. She, Jayden and Mia all took to the cockpit, preparing for battle.

Pestilox reeled from their attacks, weakening with every blow. Under every one, Emily could imagine Serrator, and could imagine going home and telling Serena that she had finally managed to bring him down, that she was able to give her the gift of vengeance for Stephen's murder. Hoping that with Serrator gone, and that vengeance no longer an issue, she could imagine Serena finally being able to let go of her hurt and anger, and finally move on with her life. She was desperate to give Serena that gift.

"Super Samurai Artillery, Octo Cannon!" Emily commanded, bringing out their artillery platform. She felt a little jab on the shoulder, and looked across, seeing Jayden offering her the Shogun Disk.

"Go on Emily." He told her. "You earned it."

Taking the disk, she shoved it into her belt buckle, and felt an unbelievable power surging through her, eclipsing anything she had ever harnessed before. She felt like she could take on anything, even Serrator himself single handed.

"Shogun Mode, Power of the Ancestors!" Emily called out. Pestilox just got to his feet as she locked onto her target.

"Don't worry about being lonely!" Emily told him. "I'm sending Serrator to meet you real soon!"

With that, she fired off the cannon, obliterating him entirely. Mia and Jayden looked to her proudly.

"Wow, remind me never to get on your bad side." Mia teased her little sister. "Way to go!"

"There'll be time for that later." Emily reminded them, leaping out of the Zord. "Right now, there's another Nighlock waiting for a one-way trip back to the Netherworld!"


	20. Geysers of Misery

Over at the school, Spike and his friends were taking English under Mrs Kaplan that day. Their usual teacher had called in sick, and she had been unable to arrange a substitute at short notice, meaning she was required to fill in. Spike smiled a little to see how at ease she was in a classroom. He had explained that back in the day, in Angel Grove, the budget had been so stretched that most of the teachers taught two or three subjects, meaning that most of them were well versed in subjects beyond their primary focus. The way his mom and dad told it, Mrs Kaplan pretty much taught his class everything.

Just then, there was a huge jolt that shook the building to its foundations, and dust rained in from the ceiling. Mrs Kaplan looked out the window, seeing energy blasts in the distance. As another jolt shook the room, a couple of the kids fell out their seats. Melanie did what she could to catch Mal, thinking only of him hurting his leg any further, but he was so much bigger than her, it ended up with him landing on top of her, knocking the wind out of her. Mrs Kaplan held up her hands.

"Alright, everyone please just don't panic!" She told them in a voice as soothing as she could manage while shouting over the noise. "Please, don't panic."

"Don't panic?" One of the kids shrieked incredulously. "The whole building's going to come down!"

"Don't exaggerate Emma." She said dismissively. "This building is built to withstand earthquakes up to a force eight on the Richter scale. There's no way these tremors will cause significant harm."

The school rocked again, and while the kids shrieked, Mrs Kaplan just remained calm, looking out the window to the source of the energy blast.

"Alright, it looks like the battle's at least a mile away, so we should be fine." She informed them, beginning to get down onto her knees and crawling under her desk. "Just duck and cover under your desks and you'll be fine. Just...try to remain calm."

The kids did as they were told, wondering how Mrs Kaplan could remain so composed. Spike already knew of course, anyone that knew where she had taught would know. Angel Grove had been Monster Central for almost six years! She had guided classes through this before. He suddenly felt something shoving its way under his arm, and looked down, seeing Vicky huddling into him. She was always terrified by these things, and she had come over, seeking some form of comfort. He wrapped his arms around her as another jolt shook the room, only too happy to offer it.

Back at the site of the main battle, Serrator was locked in a deadly battle with the guys. Although he was smashing them down, they just kept getting up, coming back just as strong and just as determined to bring him down. He, on the other hand, was starting to feel the effects.

While he was powerful, he wasn't indestructible as much as he willed others to believe so. Even with his massive power, their blows were starting to tell on him. He was staggered by a blow, and could swear he felt blood welling up in his mouth. He turned back a strike from Mike's Forest Spear, blasting him into a stone pillar some distance away, just as he saw Jayden, Emily and Mia running for him. Emily had the Super Bullzooka at the ready, aiming straight for him. As she fired off the blast, he was about to counter, but a sudden leaf storm blinded him, stopping him from seeing the attack coming, and he took the full brunt of it straight in his hideous face.

Peeling himself out of a crater in the side of a building, he faced the Rangers as they ran into position, surrounding him. All of them were ready to unleash everything they had. He took the only route he had left. Purple energy flared up around him, and he roared defiantly, sending out a shockwave before they could attack, sending all of them tumbling to the ground.

"At last, the final wedge it complete!" He commented, mopping some purple blood from his lip as he surveyed the scene of devastation surrounding him. "I have to admit, you are powerful for children, but unfortunately for you, it is too little, too late."

Just then, he felt the keen edge of a sword at his throat. It was the Bane of Life, the sword he had given to Dekker in lieu of Urumasa. He looked along it, seeing Dekker looking at him coldly.

"Enough of this, enough talk." Dekker snapped at him, looking to where the Rangers were lying, prone and vulnerable, groaning in pain. He knew that now was the moment that Serrator would likely reveal the last part of his plan. The Rangers were down, and looked like they were close to being out. Serrator's arrogance had caused him to reveal this much, if he was going to complete the picture, then now was the time. "Give me what you promised me. Give me my sword Urumasa!"

"Of course, anything you say." He stated, beginning to turn towards Dekker. "Of course, before I do, to complete our bargain, I just need you to do me one more small favour."

"Favour?" Dekker asked him, looking a little bemused. He remembered Serrator saying he wanted a favour in return for repairing Urumasa right at the beginning. Although he knew that Serrator had no intention of returning his true sword to him, this was what he wanted to hear all along.

"All of these wedges are about to explode, creating my stress line." Serrator told him. "I just need someone to strike the fault at the stress point, someone with the power to crack the Earth open once and for all."

He reached into his sleeve, and pulled the sword from inside it, presenting it to Dekker.

"Despite his lack of brains, the one thing Xandred always had over me was raw power." Serrator explained. "I have watched the Cursed Warrior for more centuries than I care to recall, and I knew that the one power that was a match for that was the Cursed Warrior. I needed someone full of Nighlock and human misery to strike the final blow. One who has walked both worlds, but belongs to neither. Someone like you."

Dekker looked to him, considering what he had said. He knew that his cursed existence was all down to Serrator. His memories, the fragments he was starting to get back, reminded him that he had a life, he had love before all this began, and though he couldn't yet remember the details, he knew that Serrator was the reason it was all gone. He now knew the truth, he was the key to everything. He always had been, this was what Serrator had been plotting all along, from the moment he had found the last Cursed Warrior. He had felt a guiding force taking him to the last Cursed Warrior, and he was certain he would have died alone in the wilderness long before he found him otherwise. Serrator had done it all, cursed him with his shattered memory, taken his life from him all for this one task. He just glared at Serrator.

"NO!" Dekker snapped, lunging for Urumasa. "All I want is my sword! Give me Urumasa!"

Dekker felt the blast burning into his chest, and tumbled away. It burned dreadfully, and he was certain if it wasn't for his Nighlock side, he would almost certainly have been killed, but Serrator wasn't willing to let him off that easily. He needed him, and Dekker knew it. He felt a subtle shift as he looked into Serrator's eyes. He still had his arrogant swagger, but there was something in his eyes that betrayed the situation. It was now too late in the game. He NEEDED Dekker. The power had now shifted, Dekker was the one in the driving seat, as much as Serrator tried to pretend otherwise. The last two centuries' of plotting would succeed or fail based on what Dekker did now.

"I anticipated this, which is why there is one last component to my curse I didn't tell you." Serrator told him, cradling the fake Urumasa proudly, like a beloved child. "All of your misery, every moment from the second you picked it up for the first time has all been trapped within its blade, building and growing, poisoning you like a cancer."

"What?" Dekker asked, struggling to get to his knees as the Rangers started to regroup.

"The only way to release it, is to strike the Earth and cleave it in two." He informed him. "So, what do you say Dekker? Will you be a man of your word and fulfil our bargain?"

Back at the High School, the shaking had stopped, but now the room was bathed in an unsettling purple glow from the geysers of misery erupting throughout the city. Vicky whimpered in Spike's arms, terrified by what was happening around her.

"Vicky, its fine." Spike tried to comfort her. "The shaking's stopped."

"Alright class, things seem to be settling down now." Mrs Kaplan told them, looking out of the window. She didn't need to know exactly what was going on to know that the signs weren't good. She had already seen so much in Angel Grove that she was sure that this was something that was best avoided. A room full of panicking teenagers was only going to make things worse. She gestured to the door. "Now, let's all start moving down to the basement, standard Earthquake drill."

"But..."

"I said; make your way to the basement." She reiterated a little more forcefully. "Spike, will you and Vicky help me and Melanie assist Mal down the stairs? We can wait in the basement until the authorities tell us it's safe to come out."

Spike caught Vicky's panic stricken eyes as he helped her up, and his heart melted. He couldn't imagine anything happening to her.

"It'll be alright." He assured her. "I promise."

"Guys." Mal protested. "Could you concentrate here? I kind of want to get out of here."

With that, Spike and Mrs Kaplan took up position to help Mal out of the room, while Vicky and Melanie cleared the path ahead.

Back at the site of the battle, Emily was starting to regain her strength. Protected by the power of Super Samurai Mode, she hadn't taken quite as much of the blast as the others. Shaking the cobwebs clear, she saw Serrator reaching out to Dekker, offering him a hand.

"So, what about it Dekker?" He asked him. "Do you want to finally see an end to all of this? Will you strike the final blow?" Emily got shakily back to her feet, hefting the weight of the Bullzooka back up, her hands shaking with the struggle to simply hold it given her injuries.

"Not going to happen!" Emily screamed, levelling the Super Bullzooka his way again, taking aim for his head. "It all ends...!"

"Stop MEDDLING!" He bellowed, spinning around and firing off a blast that caught Emily full in the chest, sending her flying back. Mike tried to catch her, but only succeeded in ending up joining her on her flight path. Both of them ended up unconscious and unmorphed on the concrete a little way off. Serrator leapt into the air, flying away as the ground erupted, sending Dekker and all the remaining Rangers scattering in all directions.

He circled the geyser of misery he had created, and looked aside, seeing the others along his fault all active. He looked back down, seeing a battered, bloody, and barely conscious Dekker was the only one still moving, and even he had difficulty remaining on his feet.

"Sooner or later, you will do as I ask." Serrator told him. "Come and find me when you're ready to fulfil your part of the bargain!"

He flew away, just as Dekker lurched forward, landing face-first on the ground and stopped moving. The geysers all spewed forth torrents of purple energy, fuelled by the misery Serrator had caused, weakening the very Earth. Jayden struggled to get to his feet, but his strength quickly faded. They had given Serrator everything they had, and it still wasn't enough. As he passed out, he could only pray that it wouldn't all end before they could regroup for one last assault.


	21. Taking Shelter

**A/N:** OK, very short chapter here, but the story is at a point I really don't want to risk taking too much further. The next episode will air on Saturday, and I plan to keep my promise not to spoil. Hope you enjoy it.

At Central High School, Melanie and Vicky got into the basement, where all the other students and staff were already assembled, clearing the way as Spike and Mrs Kaplan brought Mal down the last few stairs. Jimmy and Cody saw him and cleared a space for them to sit down, at which they brought him over.

Being in California, like many schools, the whole building had been built to withstand earthquakes. The basement especially was built for strength, meaning that it was currently the safest place for them to be. Mrs Kaplan, having had experience with her time teaching in Angel Grove, had set up a new SOP for what the staff were to do in the event of a monster attack, and right now it looked like it was paying off. A few kids were still pretty shaky, but on the whole, now they were underground, they seemed a lot more at ease. She was sure that seeing half a dozen shafts of purple energy extending beyond the clouds would do nothing to put their minds at ease.

She helped Spike set Mal down, taking care to lay his leg down straight, while Jimmy looked around for something to use as cushions. Melanie took a seat next to him, putting her arm around him and trying to ease him into as comfortable a position as possible. Mrs Kaplan closed and locked the basement door, before coming back down.

"Alright, we all got down here safely, just try to remain calm." She told them, pulling out her cell phone. "I have a signal down here, so I'll just keep a track of the news reports. When it's considered safe to leave, we'll send you all home. Until then, everyone just try to stay safely down here until the danger passes."

"What if...?"

"You can rest assured; I have experience in these matters." Mrs Kaplan assured them. "If we all remain calm, and just wait until the authorities declare it safe to leave, then it's for the best that we stay down here."

"What were those things?" One of the students asked.

"What things?" Mrs Kaplan asked in response.

"Oh, nothing much, just those five thousand foot tall purple geysers!" He answered sarcastically. She just took a deep breath and looked to them.

"You all know that strange things happen in this city because of all the monsters." She stated. "The Power Rangers were seen going into battle, all we can do is trust that they have things well in hand."

"But..."

"Have they ever failed to protect you before?" Mrs Kaplan interrupted him. There was a small murmur among the students. She had seen Ranger teams fail in battle before, only to come back stronger. She knew that of all the Ranger teams there had been, the one constant was that they never gave up, no matter how bleak things looked. She could only hope that this time was no different. Her students and her staff were relying on her to put a brave face on things, and were looking to her for strength. "Fine, then in the meantime, your time is yours to do with as you see fit. I would recommend that you take this time to study, but I am sure that would be a futile suggestion."

As the kids all split off into their groups, looking to each other for support, Vicky wrapped her arms around herself, looking over to where Melanie was comforting Mal, assuring him that he wouldn't have to stay down there for long. Cody had pulled out some tiles, a game that she still had no idea how to play, but that Cody and Jimmy seemed to be obsessed with, and started to play on an old crate to pass the time.

Just as she was starting to feel a little dejected, she felt something wrapping around her shoulders. Looking up next to her, she saw Spike standing beside her, his arms around her.

"It's looking pretty wild out there." He commented. "I've never seen anything like this."

Vicky just nodded in agreement as he sat down with her, holding her closely.

"I've got to admit, this whole thing is pretty terrifying." He admitted, thinking that if he shared his own fear that it would help. His lessons had given him a lot more confidence, but one of the things that hadn't changed was that he was always frightened whenever he had to fight. Serena had always told him that a certain element of fear kept him sharp. That said, he had to admit that there was a big difference between facing even the biggest of the school bullies and the supernatural powers of the Nighlock. The one time he and Cody had fought with Moogers at the school dance, he had noticed a marked difference in their abilities. The Nighlock that commanded them were a whole different league. He hadn't seen anything like the geysers, and he had to wonder how the city would survive. Several blocks all around the nearest geyser already lay in ruins.

"Do you...do you think they can stop this?" She asked him. "The Rangers I mean. Mrs Kaplan said they could stop this. Do you really think they can?"

"Well, I don't remember much about Angel Grove, I was still a baby when we left." He admitted. "But from what mom and dad told me, the Rangers are never more determined than when it looks like its hopeless."

She huddled into him, taking comfort in his arms. Things did look pretty hopeless right now, and she only had one regret, the fact that for so long, she had let her fear that Spike would reject her stop her from asking him out. She made a decision right there in his arms, if they got through this, she would take her shot, no matter what happened.


	22. The Aftermath of the Geysers

Serrator arrived back on the Junk, stumbling against a beam as he climbed aboard. Clutching at his ribs, he staggered as he made his way through the main deck. Although he had walked away from his battle with the Rangers on the better end of the deal, he had still taken a lot of hard shots. The Yellow Ranger in particular hadn't held anything back, and unleashed more power than he had suspected was possible for a human to muster. As he mopped some blood from his face, he mused that perhaps he had miscalculated the effect murdering Stephen would have on the team. Instead of making her weaker, of causing pain and fear in her, she had attacked in a fury that had caused him more pain than he had felt in centuries.

Ever ache, ever cut though was a small price to pay. His centuries of planning had finally led him to this point. The wedges of misery had all been driven into place. His stress line was complete, and the Earth was quite literally crumbling before the Rangers' very eyes. When he had left, all of them were down, unconscious, defeated. He was sure they would recover in time to make another attempt to stop him, but given how convincingly he had defeated them before, he was certain that it was of little consequence. If they had any sense left, they would spend their remaining time together, trying to squeeze what little joy they could out of life before the Sanzu flooded the Earth. Of course, he was sure that they were unlikely to do that. No, knowing them, they would track him to the stress point, and try once more to stop him. His only thought was that it would at least mean they would be there to see him seize control of both worlds first hand.

"Octoroo?" He roared, supporting himself on a beam, searching for any signs of the others. "Octoroo, where are you?"

He got no answer. There was no one else aboard. Even Dayu was nowhere to be seen. Pushing off from the beam, he stumbled about, crashing into some crates. He started throwing things around, searching desperately for something.

"Where is it?" Serrator growled. "Damn it you useless fat lump of slime, where do you hide that medicine?"

He desperately sought out any of the medicine Octoroo normally brewed for Master Xandred. If all went to plan, it wasn't as if Xandred was going to need it anymore. Even if he did at some point finally regenerate, Serrator would have more than enough power to take care of him once and for all. Although he was close to the end of the line, there was no reason for him to limp across it in misplaced pride.

He smashed open a chest, and smiled as he saw vials of potions. He picked up one of the vials, uncorking it and poured it down his throat. Although it burned on the way down, he quickly found his pain starting to dissipate. Looking to the empty vial, he crushed it in his hand, scattering the shards on the floor.

"What do you know, that lump is actually useful for something." Serrator commented. "Perhaps I will keep him around once this is all over."

Dayu had managed to clear out before the wedge exploded, and so had been spared the blast. However, she knew that Dekker had not been so fortunate. After a while, she came back to the site of the battle, making her way uneasily over the rubble. She shielded her eyes from the bright light of the geyser, cradling the Furry Wort Dekker to her chest to protect it.

She searched around frantically, desperately for any sign of Dekker. Despite everything, despite his curse, she knew he was not indestructible. Indeed, he had taken up Urumasa in the first place by killing the last Cursed Warrior. She needed to see for herself if this part of the plan had gone disastrously wrong. Although they now knew that Dekker was instrumental to Serrator's plan, and it was obvious that his destruction would bring it all screeching to a halt, she didn't want it to end that way.

"Dekker!" She called out, struggling to make her voice heard over the sound of the geyser. "Dekker!"

She stumbled over some of the rubble, searching for the man she loved.

"Dekker!" She called out again. Just then, she noticed something a little way off, something odd. Octoroo was already there, standing over the fallen body of the Red Ranger. One of his tentacles was attached to the side of Jayden's head, and she could see energy flowing up the tentacle into Octoroo.

On closer inspection, she saw that all of his tentacles were branching off in different directions, connecting to one of the other Rangers, also drawing off some form of energy. She approached him, seeing that in one of his hands, he was holding what appeared to be a round potions flask. It was glass, with gold bands running around its surface. After siphoning off energy for a while, he released the Rangers, leaving them lying unconscious.

"Octoroo?" She asked. "What are you...?"

"Don't worry, they'll be fine." Octoroo interrupted her as he sprayed channelled the energy he had taken into the flask. It turned into a glowing, crimson liquid in the flask which he closed with a golden stopper, before shoving it away in his robes.

"Dekker?" She asked.

"He's right over there." He assured her, pointing a little way off. "Don't worry; they're all so instrumental to my plan I've already checked on them. All of them will recover."

"We should..." She started to say, before realising what he had said. "Don't you mean OUR plan?"

"It's just a slip of the tongue. You know how much is riding on this!" Octoroo said, waving her off as he started to walk away. "Dekker is alright, but we need Serrator to believe that his plan is proceeding as it should."

"What were you doing to the Rangers?" She asked him, becoming curious. She had been scheming with him to orchestrate Serrator's downfall since the beginning, she had been part of the plan, but he hadn't mentioned anything about this. She had no idea what he was up to, and that started to get her worried. "Didn't you say...?"

"The Rangers will be fine." He assured her. "Like I said at the beginning, I have as little desire to try and take down Serrator myself as you do. They'll do it for us, and with a bit of luck, they'll all destroy each other in the process. If not, then the next best thing is that by the time they're done with each other, the winner will be in no state to stop us simply rolling over them. Now, let's get out of here before they recover. There's no reason for us to be around when they decide to grace us with their presence."

As they left, Dayu cast one look back, seeing Dekker still lying, unmoving on the ground. She hated to leave him, she wanted to take him with her, but Octoroo was right about this point. If he was helped from the scene, then Serrator would know he was being set up. For now, all she could do was hope that he would regain his strength before anything could happen to him.

Back at the school, Melanie was sitting with Mal, when Mrs Kaplan came back into the basement. She and a couple of teachers had gone out of the basement a little while ago, once the city wide alert had passed the final bell. While it wasn't ideal, she knew that she would find something in the canteen that she could distribute to the kids without needing to risk being out in the open too long to cook. Sure enough, she had found all the sandwiches that had been prepared for the following days' lunch service.

"Alright, everyone take one packet of sandwiches and one piece of fruit." She instructed them. "I know it isn't much, but hopefully this state of crisis won't last too much longer."

"We have plenty of milk, and plenty of fruit juice." One of the other teachers announced, placing down some jugs, while another brought plastic cups. "One cup per person, this may have to last until tomorrow."

Mrs Kaplan saw Melanie sticking next to Mal, and grabbed a couple of packs of sandwiches, a couple of bananas, and a couple of cups of milk, heading over. She set them down next to them.

"You should still try to keep your strength up." Mrs Kaplan reminded him. "The coach is setting up a sheet for some privacy over in the corner there. He can take you through your exercises in a little while."

"I'm not meant to do the exercises on a full stomach." He answered, reaching up to some shelves. Melanie saw that he was trying to get up, and gestured Spike over to help him. Spike took his place under Mal's right arm, supporting him.

"Mal, you've been lying on a stone floor for ages." Melanie reminded him. "Maybe you should..."

"If I'm going to get better, I need to do these exercises." He told her.

"Mal..."

"The auditions are in three months." He interrupted her, hopping a little as Spike helped him. "Trust me; I know what I'm doing."

As Spike helped him over to the corner, Mrs Kaplan looked to Melanie a little curiously, seeing the look of concern on her face.

"The auditions, does he mean the West Side Story auditions?" She asked.

"He said he wants to be Bernardo." She said with a little nod.

"Is he...is he going to be ready in time?" Mrs Kaplan asked, noticing how concerned Melanie seemed to be. She understood that getting a good part in a major production would be a major boost to his college applications, and it was quite a motivation. She had seen kids take more than a few risks when it came time to start applying for colleges in the hopes of padding out their resumes. She's once had to talk Rocky out of competing in a Martial Arts tournament towards the end of his High School career because she knew his back hadn't fully healed.

"He seems to hope so." Melanie sighed. Mrs Kaplan knew that Melanie was in a difficult position. She didn't want to seem like she was taking sides, or working against Mal, but on the other she was genuinely concerned for his welfare. Mrs Kaplan just put a hand on her shoulder sympathetically.

"Coach Walker has a lot of experience with sports injuries and physiotherapy." She assured Melanie. "I'm sure he'll be fine."

"Thank you." Melanie answered as she took a seat, waiting for Mal to come back.

Back at the site of the battle, Antonio was the first one to start and stir. His eyelids flickered, and it took a while for him to focus. All he could remember was the explosion ripping through the concrete, and tumbling through the air before everything went black.

His ears were still ringing, and his vision was a little blurry. He could feel a taste of copper in his mouth, and he could see blood staining his shirt.

"Jayden?" He called out, looking around for any sign of him. The geyser had erupted pretty much right in the middle of them, and had sent all of them flying in all directions. He couldn't see any of his friends nearby, and started to panic. "Jayden? Mike? Kevin? Emily? Mia? Ji?"

He blinked a few times, hoping to clear his vision up some more, and he struggled to get his bearings. Just then, he heard a low moan from a little way off. He could barely see between the bright light, and his blurred vision, but a little way from him, he could see the unmistakable shape of a prone, human form. He started to scrabble his way across the rubble.

He ran over, grabbing the victim and turned him over. He recoiled a little as he got a good look at the victim's face. It was Dekker. He was lying unconscious and by the looks of things, he was barely even alive. It was a miracle either of them were alive, only his Ranger suit had saved him, and clearly Dekker's Nighlock side had saved him, but not by much. He remembered vaguely where they were all standing when the geyser erupted, and Dekker had been standing almost right on top of it. He had taken a much heavier hit than the rest of them, and clearly that had told on him.

He looked into Dekker's face, and he realised the position he was in, an all-too rare opportunity presented itself to him. Dekker was completely motionless, utterly helpless to defend himself. There had never been a moment where he had been so weak, so vulnerable. He could end it all right now, it would be so simple. As his Barracuda Blade appeared in his hand, Antonio gripped it tightly as he knelt over Dekker's chest. So easy, all it would take was one strike.

He remembered all the things he had heard about Dekker, all the things he had done in his obsessive quest to find the ultimate duel with Jayden. He had kidnapped Emily, just so he could ask her about Jayden, to find out about the man he had chosen as his next victim. He had kidnapped Serena when she was critically ill, putting her life in danger just to try and force Jayden to duel him. He had once threatened to start attacking innocent people for no reason other than to force Jayden's hand. He had even once almost cut Stephen in half, almost killed him purely because he had gotten in the way during Jayden's first duel with him. There wasn't one person on the team he hadn't hurt, and he had already shown that he was willing to hurt others to get what he wanted.

More than that, the Rangers had all heard what Serrator had said. With the exception of Xandred, who was still soaking at the bottom of the Sanzu and incapable of delivering the fatal strike even if he did want to, Dekker was the only one with the power required to carve open the stress point. Without him, Serrator's plan would fail. The wedges of misery would eventually lose their power, and the Earth would repair itself. It would be for the good of the world. It would be so simple. One thrust, and it would all be over. Jayden and the others would all be safe from him, the world would be spared the fate of being flooded by the Sanzu River, there was nothing but good that could come from it.

He drew the Barracuda Blade as he steeled himself for the deed. His heart ran cold as he looked down on Dekker's defenceless form. He knew all the good that could come from it, but there was a part of him that knew it would be wrong. It wouldn't be like all the times he had destroyed a Mooger, or a Nighlock. It wouldn't be part of a battle, it wouldn't be a necessary act to defend the life of someone that he was attacking, right now, Dekker was no threat to anyone. It would be an act of murder. It was no way for a Samurai to act.

He clutched the handle of the Barracuda Blade more tightly as he thought back. Kevin had been the last to reluctantly accept him on the team. He had spent a long time taking every opportunity to remind Antonio that he was not from a noble family, telling him that he was not a true Samurai. It had angered him so much to think about it now, even though Kevin had since accepted him on the team. He wasn't a true Samurai; he hadn't been born into the life like the others had. If he wasn't going to be treated as a Samurai, then why did he have to abide by the same rules? Just this once, he could do what none of the others could, and end it all without anyone else needing to be harmed. Putting the scabbard aside, he gripped the handle of the Barracuda Blade in both hands and raised it over his head. Just this once, just one stroke, and it would all be over.

Before he could do it though, he couldn't get Jayden out of his mind. He had always supported him, always believed in him. He had never treated him any differently than any of the others. Indeed, after the first battle where he officially acted as a part of the team, he remembered Jayden taking him into the back garden, and...

His grip on the Barracuda Blade loosened as he remembered that night. Jayden had shown him a piece of the garden, and told him he had gifted him a piece of the land. It wasn't much, just a square foot of the garden as a token gesture, but it meant that as a land owner, Antonio was a noble, which meant that he was a Samurai.

He could only imagine what Jayden would say if he could see him now, about to drive a blade into the heart of a broken and helpless opponent. The mere thought of the look on Jayden's face if he found out that he had gone through with it was heartbreaking. He loved Jayden with all his heart, and searching his soul, he knew that if he did this, he would never be able to accept him. He would lose his soul, and he would lose Jayden for good.

Picking up the scabbard, he put the Barracuda Blade away.

"Antonio!" He heard a voice calling out.

"Antonio!" Another called out. He recognised this one as Mia's. His hearing was starting to return to normal. He looked around, seeing Jayden coming over the crest of a pile of rubble. He got up, and turned towards Jayden, sprinting across the wreckage.

"Jayden!" He called out, waving to attract his attention. Jayden offered him a hand, pulling him up.

"Antonio, we need to get out of here." He told him.

"Where are the others?" Antonio asked him.

"They're just over this way." Jayden told him. "Come on, we need to regroup."

Antonio just went with Jayden, casting one last look back in Dekker's direction, seeing him start to stir. He had the perfect opportunity to end it all, and he had passed it up. Now, because he lost his nerve at the last second, the whole world was in danger. What had he done?

**A/N:** The next full chapter, just like last week, will wait until Saturday, since from here on, the chapters will mostly encompass the events of the new episode which will air then.


	23. Antonio's Choice

**A/N:** OK, Super Samurai's airing schedule is starting to get ridiculous! Now, the new episode is pulled until AFTER the Halloween Special? So, a two-part episode will be interrupted by an out-of-continuity episode? After a FOUR MONTH hiatus, the show now has another two-week hiatus after ONE EPISODE? NOT COOL!

I have promised all along not to spoil, but I also don't want to leave this story hanging for two weeks at such a vital juncture! So please, take this as...

**Spoiler Warning:** The remainder of this story will be an adaptation of "Stroke of Fate", which (if they don't change their minds AGAIN) will air on November 3rd. If you don't want to be spoiled, then stop reading now. I will do fillers after this story ends, until I begin my own adaptation of the finale arc, so only one episode spoilers. You have been fairly warned, if you don't want to know what happens until the episode, then stop reading now.

The Rangers got back to the Shiba House some time later. It wasn't easy travelling through the city, with most of the roads being blocked off and reserved for emergency vehicles meaning they had to go on foot. It was made all the more difficult by the fact they were injured, exhausted and also had to avoid the authorities. As much as the thought of being properly tended to properly was appealing, they knew that soon enough they would need to do battle again, and that was only going to be complicated if they were being kept under observation.

Mike came in first, carrying a clearly exhausted Emily, taking her over to the couch and laying her down. Terry was quickly by her side with a first aid kit to check on her, while the others came into the room, taking seats to patiently await their turn. Brenda and Serena started looking at the others, tending to the less serious injuries to free Terry up to check on the others.

"Ji, what happened out there?" Brenda asked her husband, seeing that he didn't look too much healthier than Emily right now. "The whole city's going up! The news has been no help at all..."

"Serrator has created all the wedges." He informed them. "It is only a matter of time before he attempts to open the crack in the Earth."

"We've spent the last little while unconscious." Jayden added. "It wasn't easy getting here past the authorities."

"How is she?" Mike asked Terry, pacing impatiently. Terry just looked to him and smiled.

"Well, she's used up a lot of Symbol Power." He told them. "She's bound to be pretty exhausted for a while, but otherwise she doesn't seem much worse off than the rest of you."

"That's a matter of opinion." Emily grumbled, stroking her eyes gently. "I feel worse than the time I ran all over town plugging up pools of Sanzu Water."

"I'm not surprised, you really tore that Nighlock a new one!" Mike complimented her, taking her hand softly. He looked to Terry and Serena proudly. "If that geyser hadn't exploded, she'd probably have taken Serrator out too."

"Well, that's something we still have to worry about." Kevin responded, recalling seeing Serrator flying away just before he passed out. "Not to mention Dekker."

Antonio flinched a little just hearing his name. Dekker had been lying helpless at his feet. He was so close to putting an end to Serrator's plan, stopping Dekker putting the man he loved at risk, and saving the entire world all in one simple stroke. He could still see Dekker lying bloodied and defeated at his feet. It wouldn't have taken much, just a second, and it would all have been over. Yet, in the end, he had walked away. He had his shot, and he did nothing.

"Dekker?" Serena asked them. "What does he have to do with all of this?"

"It turns out that only he has the power needed to strike the final blow at the stress point." Ji explained, looking to her as Brenda started to bind his injuries. "Serrator engineered this whole thing from the beginning. He's been guiding Dekker to this point for hundreds of years."

"So, Dekker's the key to everything?" Brenda asked. Antonio couldn't look at the others, hearing this. He knew how vital Dekker was to everything. Although the thought of driving home his Barracuda Blade, piercing his heart had brought up feelings of revulsion in him, now he was thinking that he had made the biggest mistake of his life. He had his chance, easily the best chance he would ever have, and he had blown it.

"It appears that way." Jayden told her. "Since Serrator hasn't gone on a rampage and started tearing up the place, I can only presume that he's still alive. Now, our priority is clear, we need to stop Dekker."

Antonio couldn't hear any more. He got up, and turned to face the others.

"I'm sorry guys." He told them. "I really messed up."

"Antonio?" Mia asked, looking to the Gold Ranger curiously. "What are you talking about?"

"Dekker's alive." He informed them. "I know because I saw him. When I came to, I saw him a little way from me."

"So...you saw him leaving?" Mia asked, trying to understand. Antonio shook his head dejectedly.

"Not exactly." He admitted, taking a deep breath as he prepared to admit the worst part of the story. "He was still unconscious. He was just lying there, helpless."

"Antonio?" Jayden asked him, looking concerned about his boyfriend. Antonio just looked back to them.

"I had the chance to end all of this, but...I just couldn't do it!" He said, struggling to keep back his tears. "I'm really sorry guys, I had my chance and I blew it."

"Dude, you did nothing wrong." Mike assured him.

"Samurai never kill helpless opponents." Jayden agreed, putting a hand on his shoulder in a comforting gesture. "Killing someone in the heat of combat is one thing, but we're Samurai, not executioners. No one has the right to take a life in cold blood."

"Dude, even I know that." Mike concluded, putting his arm around Antonio. "You did the right thing."

"But with Dekker on the loose, the whole world's still in danger." Antonio murmured. "Aren't you guys mad?"

"Antonio, we may want to see the back of Dekker, but we wouldn't want to lose you in the process." Kevin said with authority. "If you'd done it, you know everything would have changed. There's no coming back from something like that."

"I still should have done something!" Antonio yelled, throwing Mike and Jayden's arms off him and running out the door. The others were about to pursue, but Jayden just called them back.

"I'll go." Jayden told them.

"But Jayden..."

"Let him go." Mia responded. "We know if Antonio will listen to anyone, he'll listen to Jayden."

"The rest of you rest up." Jayden instructed them. "I'll deal with this."

In another part of town, Dekker started to stir as he finally regained consciousness. He had been drifting in and out for hours, but now, he was slowly but surely starting to be able to move under his own power. Turning over, he heaved himself up on his arms.

The blast had done a number on him, but even through the pain, he remembered a few things that had flashed across his mind during the time he was down. He had started to think more and more about Dayu, the enigmatic, blue-faced Nighlock who seemed to be obsessed with following him and helping him all along. He had started to believe that their fates were intertwined somehow, but while he was out, he found himself thinking about her more and more. He also had visions of another woman, a human, one that he remembered sitting with in a bedroom. He felt something for her, but which one, he wasn't sure. The two images blurred together in a way he didn't understand.

He also remembered something else, something from his brief periods of consciousness. He remembered seeing the Gold Ranger, the fisherman, kneeling over him, raising his blade over his head in both hands. He had been unable to do anything to stop it, and he believed that it was all over right there, but something happened he didn't expect. Just when it looked like the Gold Ranger was about to strike, he stopped. He just looked at Dekker, before putting his weapon away and leaving.

He never expected to see such an act. Although he didn't fully understand it, he knew that the Gold Ranger had a deep connection to the Red Ranger. He had been pursuing him, hunting him for almost two years. Dekker had hurt, tormented and tortured every one of the Rangers in his attempts to get his duel with Jayden. Antonio had him vulnerable, had him sitting helpless, and yet for some reason, he had allowed him to live.

Dekker never felt any satisfaction from defeating foes who couldn't defend themselves, indeed he had walked away from battles when his foes were unable to face him on an equal footing, but he understood pragmatism. The most sensible thing for Antonio to do, the thing that would have been the smart thing to do was kill him when he had the chance. To end the threat that Dekker posed to Jayden, to the world, without having to battle him at full strength.

He entered a gap, stumbling out of another by a river bank. He was still troubled by what Serrator had told him. He had been planning this all along. Dekker's decision to pursue the previous Cursed Warrior had been his own, one born out of his desire to attain prestige and notice in his fathers' eyes, honour that he had been denied for his whole mortal life. However, after years of being a few steps behind, chasing rumours and hearsay, the pursuit took a turn. He had believed it to merely be a change in fortune, but he had since heard from Serrator's own mouth that he had subtly guided him towards the Cursed Warrior. He had ensured that Dekker found him, cursing him to a Half-Nighlock existence. Now, he knew why.

He waded into the river, looking to his reflection. His body and face still carried various injuries from the blast. He bent down, scooping up some water in his hands, and splashed it onto his face, washing away some of the grime and dried blood. As he stared into the depths though, he saw a dual reflection, reminding him of the blurred image of the mysterious human, and Dayu, and Serrator's words echoed in his mind again.

"_I have watched the Cursed Warrior for more centuries than I care to recall, and I knew that the one power that was a match for that was the Cursed Warrior. I needed someone full of Nighlock and human misery to strike the final blow. One who has walked both worlds, but belongs to neither. Someone like you."_

He understood now that he had been manipulated from the very beginning. If nothing else, Serrator deserved to be destroyed simply for his cowardly and devious ways, but he also had his own reasons for wanting to end him. His own, personal reasons.

"_I anticipated this, which is why there is one last component to my curse I didn't tell you All of your misery, every moment from the second you picked it up for the first time has all been trapped within its blade, building and growing, poisoning you like a cancer. The only way to release it, is to strike the Earth and cleave it in two."_

He didn't know the exact nature of Serrator's curse, and he could believe that Serrator was capable of such a thing, but there was one part of the story that simply didn't ring true for him. He already knew that Serrator had no intention of giving him Urumasa. Indeed, he knew for a fact that Serrator didn't even possess it.

He looked to the water one last time, seeing only the reflection of his human side. Just then, there was a bright red flash, and he turned to see a Furry Wort rolling out of a gap. He furrowed his brow. He walked across, picking it up in his hand and inspecting it.

"You...you are Dayu's pet aren't you?" He asked it.

"Dayu's pet, Dayu's pet." It chattered to confirm the detail. Dekker just looked to it, and then looked around for its mistress.

"Where is she?" He asked it in response.

"Follow me, follow me!" It chirped, squirming out of his hand and rolling into the gap. Dekker just looked around one last time, before heading into the gap after it.

Over at the school, Mrs Kaplan was busy on the phone, using the register to call all of the kids' parents to assure them that they were all safe and sound in the school. It was getting late, and with no sign of the city-wide alert being lifted any time soon, she was preparing for the fact that it seemed the kids would be spending the night.

It wasn't ideal, the basement was hardly the most comfortable of surroundings, but it was a lot safer than risking the parents attempting to bring their kids home, or worse, the kids trying to get home by themselves. Other teachers were looking out dust sheets, table cloths, towels...anything they could use as blankets to make the basement a little more bearable, now it seemed they would be spending the night.

Mrs Kaplan came across to Mal, finding him flexing his knee, doing what she was sure were some of his exercises. She just cleared her throat as she arrived, handing him a blanket.

"You already did your exercises." She reminded him. "I'm sure you're meant to rest between sessions."

"I need to exercise it if it's going to get better." Mal told her. She just took some cushions, pushing them under his injured leg to support it.

"Yes, but I'm also sure that it needs rest." She answered quietly. "I have seen more than a few kids hurt themselves in my time. I do know how these things work."

"Mrs Kaplan, I know..."

"I know that it's frustrating to wait, but you need to give your body time to heal." She reminded him. "After all, you wouldn't want to make anything worse would you?"

Mal didn't answer, instead just sulking. Clearly she just didn't get it. He knew his own body; he knew what he could take. He wasn't stupid; he just wanted to get back to normal as quickly as possible. It wasn't as if the world was going to stop still and wait on him being ready for it. He only had a little time before he'd need to worry about what he was going to put into his college applications. She just didn't understand how important it was to him to ensure he recovered quickly.

"Do you have any medication?" She asked him. "If you're going to be on the floor all night, it might get uncomfortable."

"I have some painkillers." He told her. Mrs Kaplan just smiled.

"Let me know if you need anything." She said quietly as she made him as comfortable as she could, before leaving. Melanie came to his side, sliding underneath the sheet, cuddling into him for warmth. Mrs Kaplan saw this, but didn't really worry about it. Many of the kids were grouping together for warmth, and she also knew the whole teaching staff were in the basement too. It wasn't as if things would go too far, there was no privacy here.

Seeing Melanie and Mal, Vicky looked to another area, where Cody and Jimmy were still playing their game of tiles. She didn't see the attraction, but it kept them occupied, and she was sure that soon enough the teachers would encourage them to put them away and try to get some sleep.

As she hugged herself, she heard a whistle, and looked to where Spike was resting up against a wall, wrapping a dust sheet around himself. He held open one side.

"Vicky." He called out. "You can share."

Vicky just nodded, coming across and sliding under the blanket as Spike pulled it around both of them. Settling into each others' arms, Vicky couldn't help smiling. Despite everything happening outside, despite how scared she was, somehow she just felt so much more at ease knowing that Spike was beside her.

Over at the Shiba House meanwhile, Antonio couldn't sleep. Jayden had spoken to him about his decision at length, assuring him that not only did he not blame him for his decision, but if anything, he admired him for doing what was right, even in the face of such tremendous opposition. It helped a little, but he still couldn't help feeling like he had blown the biggest opportunity they'd received to deal a devastating blow to the Nighlock.

He carefully got out of the bed, taking care not to wake Jayden as he did so. He watched Jayden sleeping for a moment, and sighed in regret. He was just as hurt as Jayden, and just as exhausted. He should have no problem sleeping at all; he was practically dead on his feet as it was. However, he just couldn't stop his mind going over and over the same thought. He should have done something.

She went out into the Living Room, and sat for a moment, turning on the TV, taking care to ensure the volume was down low so he wouldn't disturb the rest of the house. He was looking for something, anything to take his mind off it. Unfortunately, that wasn't to be. Every channel was broadcasting news live from the city. It was easily the biggest story, and pretty much all the programming had been shunted off the air in favour of live feeds.

He eventually got so fed up of being bombarded by the images; he shut off the television, holding his head in his hands. He felt badly enough about the fact that this was still going on without having it rammed down his throat. It was then that he noticed Ji had left the map open. He looked down on it, and saw the sites of the geysers all plotted, now in purple, with a line connecting them all. He noticed one more thing that was plotted on the map though, one point at the exact centre of the line, in the mountains. He remembered what Ji had taught them about stress lines and stress points. Ji had obviously plotted this point, expecting that to be where the stress point would be.

Picking up a note pad and a pen, he quickly wrote a note to explain to the others. No matter what they said, he had to do something. He couldn't just sit and wait any longer.

Quickly getting dressed, he grabbed the Light Zord, planning on taking it with him, but as he got to the Living Room, he reconsidered. Going up against Serrator had taught them one thing; they would need everything they had to get the job done. Putting it down, he set up the note next to it, and checking he had his morpher, he headed out the door.


	24. Antonio's Stand

**A/N:** Just another reminder. These last few chapters are an adaptation of "Stroke of Fate", which will air in the U.S. 3rd November (unless there's ANOTHER delay *rolls eyes*). If you don't want to be spoiled, stop reading! Otherwise, hope you enjoy it!

It was early the following morning. None of the Rangers planned on training, they knew it would not be long before they were back in action, and for now it was much more important that they rested up.

Terry checked on Emily, knowing that her extensive use of symbol power in her single-minded rage, attempting to destroy Serrator had cost her a lot of her energy. He checked on her vitals, satisfying himself that she had done no lasting damage.

"OK, you're going to feel pretty drained for a while." He told her sympathetically. "I'd recommend going easy on anything that puts a lot of strain on your symbol power for a while."

"Going easy?" Emily asked him incredulously. "Terry, we threw everything we had at Serrator and only wounded him. We're going to need everything we have to finish him off!"

"Yes, and there ARE four other members of your team." He reminded her. "Super Samurai Mode is only meant to be used for short periods; you were powered up for almost half an hour."

He looked across to where Mentor Ji was reading, while Brenda tried in vain to get him to have some breakfast. He was also desperate to see this threat ended.

"I'd recommend that for you too Mentor." Terry told him. "You did hit the Shark Attack mode pretty hard."

"I suppose I am feeling a little run down." Mentor admitted. "If I have to participate in battle, I suppose I will need all the strength I can get. There's no point in using a power-up if it means I'm out of the fight two minutes in."

"You see Emily, even Mentor agrees." Terry told her, stroking her shoulders gently. "So, what do you say?"

"But...Serrator!" She complained, involuntarily looking to the corner, where Serena was working with Mia on something for Ji. Terry understood completely. He knew how much Emily loved her sister, and he could tell that she genuinely wanted to be the one to put an end to Serrator for good. He wanted to be the one to come home and tell Serena that Serrator was gone, and that she had destroyed him for her. He just smiled.

"Look, we all want Serrator gone." He reminded her. "There isn't one of us that wouldn't love to be the one to stomp his ass all the way back to the Netherworld. Just..."

He looked around and smiled as he noticed something on the floor, just behind the coffee table. It was the Light Zord. He went over, picking it up and handed it to her.

"Here, take this." Terry instructed her. "The Light Zord's fully charged, it'll provide its own Symbol Power. I'm sure Antonio won't mind you using it."

"Speaking of which, where is Antonio?" Kevin asked, suddenly realising with a quick head-count that they were indeed one Ranger down. Mike and the others all looked around, realising the same thing, before looking to Jayden. He just shrugged.

"He wasn't here when I got up this morning." He told them. "I guessed he went fishing or something."

Emily turned the Light Zord over, realising that there was a note attached to it, and recognised the handwriting as Antonio's. She took the note off, and opened it up as the others crowded around. There was an uneasy feeling among them, but it was most noticeable with Jayden. They all knew he was upset about the Dekker incident, and he had intimated that he wanted to make it right. Jayden already knew what the note would say, but his heart stopped beating as he prayed he was wrong.

"Dear guys,

I'm sorry I let you down. I now know what I have to do. This is my mess, and I promise I'll clean it up. I owe it to all of you.

Signed, Antonio."

When she had finished reading it, Emily looked up to the others, her eyes wide, and full of terror. The others had all had the same thought, but the note just confirmed their worst fears.

"You don't think he...?" Mike began, only for Jayden to cut him off with a gesture.

"Antonio's gone after Dekker himself." Jayden sighed sadly. He knew Antonio better than any of them, even before they had become a couple. He knew that Antonio always took it hard whenever he messed up, especially if it put other people in harms' way. Despite all the jokes and the care-free attitude, the one thing that he never doubted about Antonio was his pride, pride which was as much of a fault as a blessing. He'd never sit back and let others put themselves on the line to correct his mistakes. "We need to find him."

Just then, the Gap Sensor sounded. Jayden and the others couldn't imagine a worse time for this to happen. The only thing they wanted to do was to go after Antonio, to make sure he didn't start something he couldn't finish, but with the Geysers still spewing forth energy, they knew that Serrator, and any move he made had to be a priority. No one Ranger could ever take priority over the fate of the world. Jayden and the others ran over to the map, opening it up, while Jayden just prayed that he didn't have to make the choice between Serrator and the man he loved.

Ji pulled up the readings, and saw the power readings. They were lower than before, likely as a result of his injuries, but they were still higher than most Nighlock, meaning he had little doubt that it was Serrator.

"From these readings it looks like Serrator." He informed them. "He is approaching the stress point."

"Let's go." Jayden ordered them. "This may be our last chance to stop this."

"Jayden..."

"We have to stop..."

"Jayden, what about Antonio?" Mia interjected. He stopped, and took a deep breath as he considered his options. Serrator was the priority, even if his plan failed; he was still an insanely powerful Nighlock, the most powerful still currently active as far as they knew. If he couldn't get Dekker to strike the stress point and open the Earth, then he was sure that he would take his frustrations out on the city. One way or another, they would have to face him that day.

On the other hand, Dekker was also a priority. He was the only one active who could open the crack, and flood the Earth. If he was destroyed, or even delayed, then Serrator's plan would undoubtedly fail, leaving them only the task of destroying Serrator himself.

Finally, he wanted to ensure that Antonio was safe, and that he would return to him. He hated these situations. As much as he had been raised to be leader his whole life, to make these choices, he couldn't see any way to achieve everything all at once. Serrator was so powerful; it would undoubtedly take the whole team to take him down. He finally made a choice.

"Mia, you and Kevin go and find Antonio." He instructed the Pink Ranger. "Mike, Ji, Emily and I will take on Serrator. With luck, we'll be able to hold him off until you get there."

"Right!" The Rangers all chorused, heading for the door. Serena picked up the Light Zord.

"Emily!" She called out, attracting her sister's attention. She threw her the Light Zord. "Don't forget this!"

"Thanks." Emily replied. "Something tells me we'll need all the help we can get."

As they ran out the door, Serena just slumped down into a chair, holding her face in her hands.

"I know what you're thinking." Terry stated sitting with her. "Why couldn't someone have created TWO morphers per family?"

"It's not that." Serena answered. "I just wish we could tell them..."

"Listen, we both know we can't yet." Terry told her. "That message from Dayu was just for us. If the others knew..."

"I know, I know." Serena muttered. "It just sucks knowing that they're going through all this, and I can't do anything to help."

"Your time's coming." Terry answered. "We just have to be patient."

Over at Central High School, the kids were starting to wake up, after what was far from a comfortable night. Mrs Kaplan made a mental note to include some travel mattresses and blankets in the next term's budget for the earthquake shelter. Looking around, she saw that the kids, much to her relief, were all safe and well. Just to be on the safe side, she instructed a couple of the teachers to take a head count just to make sure none of the kids had tried to head home while they were sleeping.

She got to Mal's side, gently shaking him awake. Being injured, he was her priority. The other kids would no doubt be sore and uncomfortable after sleeping on the floor, but he needed extra attention. She had made him as comfortable as possible, but she was sure a night lying on concrete couldn't have done his knee any good.

"Malcolm?" She asked him. "How are you this morning?"

"I'm OK I guess." He responded sleepily, rubbing his eyes.

"I'll sort out something to eat in a little while." She informed him. "Do you need anything?"

"I'll be fine." He assured her. Mrs Kaplan just smiled and left Melanie to care for him. She went next to Spike and Vicky, finding them lying together under a blanket in each others' arms. She just gently shook them awake.

"It's best you don't spend too long on the floor." She advised them. "We're going to arrange some more food shortly."

"Thanks Mrs Kaplan." Spike answered as he stretched awake. Vicky just looked up to him, seeing that it was no dream. He really had been there with her all night. Her heart fluttered a little as she saw him.

"So, how are you?" He asked him. "I think my butt's still asleep."

"I'm...I'm fine." She whispered gently. Spike looked down and smiled.

"You...uh..." She waited with baited breath to hear what he had to say. "You...kinda drooled a little."

She looked down, seeing a slightly damp patch on Spike's shirt. She turned a bright shade of pink as she sat up, mopping her mouth with her sleeve.

"S...s...sorry." She stammered. "I guess I slept funny and..."

"It's alright, I doubt any of us got a great nights' sleep." Spike stated, before disentangling himself. He went over to where Jimmy and Cody were sleeping, and gently shook them awake, asking to see Jimmy's I-phone to see if there was any word from the city. Vicky just pulled into herself, hiding her face in embarrassment. Spike had spent the whole night looking after her, and she had drooled on him. She just wanted the basement to fall in on her right there.

In the mountains overlooking the city, Serrator was walking towards a large pile of rock that had pushed its way out of a fissure in the Earth. It stood almost as tall as he was, and was vaguely triangular in shape. The sheer pressure caused on the weakening Earth had pushed it up through the ground, marking the stress point he needed.

He carried the fake Urumasa, approaching it, ignoring steam rising from some cracks running out from it. He could almost feel the power welling up under his feet, and knew that soon it would all be over.

He limped a little as he walked, and numerous cuts and scorch marks on his body stood as testament to his savage battle only the day before. Octoroo's medicine had eased his pain, and his injuries were nowhere near as severe as they had been, but he still wasn't a hundred percent. It didn't matter to him though, his plan was on a crucial juncture, and if he didn't enact his end game soon, then it would all be for nothing. He was prepared to risk destroying two worlds for ultimate power, what was a little pain and a few injuries when he weighed it up against becoming the ruler of all that existed?

"Ah, this is the spot." He said in a satisfied tone, seeing all his centuries of plotting finally coming to fruition. He was only moments away from ruling everything, and becoming unstoppable. "The Gap to the Netherworld is weakest here!"

He looked to the stress point, running his hand over the stone, feeling it warm to the touch, almost burning him. He was so close, he could taste it.

"As soon as my half-human half-Nighlock friend Dekker slashes this open, the world will finally give way to the Netherworld."

He held 'Urumasa' aloft, and looked at it excitedly.

"Now, it's time for Dekker to come and claim his 'Prize'." He chuckled in self-satisfaction, knowing that Dekker would realise his ruse too late to do anything about it. He didn't know what would happen to Dekker, if he would survive the flood, but it didn't matter. In the end, once Serrator had the power over both worlds, Dekker would be unable to stop him either way.

Some way down a dirt track, Dekker appeared from a gap, following Dayu's pet Furry Wort. He looked to the creature, and held his hands on his hips.

"Well, now what?" He asked. The creature just rolled back into a Gap and disappeared. Dekker looked around for a moment, before seeing something on the ground a little way off. It was an arrow, which had been drawn in the dirt roughly with a blade or a stick. He sniggered as he saw it, shaking his head in disbelief.

"Not too subtle Dayu." He commented, erasing it by kicking dirt over it with his boot. "But it'll do."

He walked down the path before him, feeling the energy beneath his feet building, and knew he was heading the right way. Before long, there would be no more schemes, and no more games. He could finally leave all the deceptions behind and get back to doing what he did best.

As he got a little way down the track, feeling the power continue to grow, he stopped as he saw a shadow on the ground. Looking up, he saw Antonio standing before him, his Barracuda Blade in his hand. He had a stern look on his face, and was standing side-on, indicating that he was ready to fight. Dekker just snorted at the sight. The fisherman didn't know of the plan, he didn't realise that any delay could undo everything they had been working towards. He just looked to Antonio, starting to approach.

"Well, if it isn't the fisherman." He said mockingly. Antonio didn't move an inch from his spot on the path. Dekker had to admit he had courage.

"So, are you on your way to help Serrator rip open the Earth?" Antonio asked him, pushing his fear down, using it, and embracing it to give him strength for the coming battle. He could see Dekker was still injured, but unlike before, he was no longer helpless. Even injured, he was a deadly opponent. Dekker had to restrain himself from laughing. He didn't realise that he was actually causing more harm than good.

"If you were worried about that, why didn't you stop me when you had the chance?" Dekker taunted him. Antonio just looked horrified as Dekker said this. He believed he was completely unconscious, that he wasn't even aware of his presence. In truth, Dekker was aware of the encounter, he just didn't have the strength to stop it. Antonio shook himself out of his state of shock, gripping the Barracuda Blade more tightly.

"It doesn't matter." He declared. "I'm here to stop you now."

Back at the stress point, Serrator was pacing impatiently. He had planned for everything; he had calculated it all to precision. He had manoeuvred everyone like pieces on a chessboard expertly all along, but there was one factor that was now troubling him. Dekker was taking a lot longer to arrive than he anticipated.

"Dekker, where are you?" He growled, starting to lose his temper. Feeling his pain flaring up again, he pulled out another vial of medicine, uncorking it. As he was about to drink it though, a Power Disk flew through the air, smashing the vial and spraying the contents on the ground uselessly. He turned around, seeing Emily holding the Light Zord, training it on him as Jayden and Mike arrived.

"Did someone forget to take his medicine?" She teased him. Having seen that he was still injured, she had guessed that the potion was likely some form of healing potion. It was an opportunity that was too good to miss. Serrator was weaker now than before, this was the best chance they had. "I can see why Antonio likes this thing."

"Serrator!" Jayden called out. "Put down the sword!"

Without a word, Serrator cast lightning bolts towards them. Jayden, Mike and Emily all threw themselves out of the way, morphing as they did so.

"Moogers, keep these pests away!" He roared as a contingent of Moogers arrived. Mike, Emily and Jayden ran into battle, while Serrator turned his attention back to the path, hoping that Dekker would arrive soon. He was too close for the Rangers to foul it all up now.

Back on the path, Dekker just glared at Antonio as he drew the Barracuda Blade. He didn't have time for this nonsense. He remembered the incident at the geyser, and came up with an alternate plan. Why fight him when he knew what Antonio's weakness was?

"Go ahead." Dekker beckoned him, opening his arms, exposing his chest. "Attack me, I'm unarmed."

Antonio paused for a moment. It was almost exactly like the geyser. He had a shot; Dekker wasn't even trying to defend himself. All it would take was one strike...

He snapped shut his Barracuda Blade, and fell to his knees, putting the weapon on the ground. Dekker just snorted dismissively.

"I didn't think so." He commented, walking past him.

"I'm begging you, please!" Antonio called out, tears beginning to run down his face as he realised that once more, he had chosen his heart over the safety of the world. "Just forget about your sword, and walk away!"

Dekker stopped as he heard the emotion in his voice. Was this really happening? Was the Gold Ranger really trying to beg him to stop?

"I know you want to lift your curse, to get back the life you once had with Dayu." He continued to implore Dekker. "But if you do a Serrator asks, then billions of people will suffer a horrible fate."

Dekker paused for a moment. What had he said? He had a life with Dayu? He thought back to the strange visions he had been getting recently, the blurring between the mystery human woman in his dreams, and the enigmatic Dayu, who had been coming to him for all this time. Was it possible? Was that what he was trying to remember? He searched his mind, hoping that he could find some form of confirmation as to whether the Gold Ranger was telling him the truth or not. However, finding nothing, he could only feel his rage and frustration building up again.

"I knew it!" He snarled. "You're no Samurai!"

Turning around, and summoning the Bane of Life to his hands, Antonio turned in time to see it coming straight for him, about to cut him in two. He wasn't quick enough to respond, and prepared for the blow, but it was stopped in a shower of sparks. Antonio saw two Spin Swords blocking the blow, and looking to either side, Dekker saw Mia and Kevin standing, protecting Antonio.

He exchanged a few blows with them, kicking Kevin back a few paces, where he was joined by Mia. Both of them stood facing him.

"This is a waste of time!" Dekker stated, knowing that he still had other matters to attend to. Running towards them, the Blue and Pink Ranger both swung for him, at which he flipped away impossibly, and continued on his path.

The three Rangers started to pursue them, but before they could make it more than a couple of paces, a smoke bomb was thrown between them, exploding. Antonio, Kevin and Mia all felt faint, and fell to the ground unconscious. Dekker heard the commotion and turned, seeing this. He smiled as he looked to the trees.

"Thank you Dayu." He commented. "I'm late enough as it is."


	25. The Stress Point Battle

Ji collided hard with a rock as he was blasted away by Serrator. The Rangers' battle with Serrator and his moogers was quickly devolving into a scrappy affair, which was undoubtedly going to be resolved only when one side or the other had nothing left. The moogers were almost all gone, and Serrator had been forced to rejoin the battle. Beaten from pillar to post, Serrator was still standing strong, sending the Rangers flying this way and that.

Emily continued to attack in a frenzy. Making full use of the Light Zord, she bombarded him with a barrage of power disks any time she was on her feet. Serrator, for all his strength, was now showing real signs of injury. He was now actually flinching under the attacks, and his body bore the signs of injury. Seeing purple blood leaking from his body, the Rangers re-doubled their efforts, feeling now that it was actually possible to defeat him.

As Mike skidded along the ground after a harsh attack, Jayden helped him up, before offering him the Black Box. Mike looked to him in surprise.

"Jay?" He asked

"Emily can't handle another battle like the last one." Jayden explained. "If anyone else is going to take him down, I think she'd appreciate it if it was you."

"I won't let you down Jay." Mike promised him, powering up. "Super Samurai Mode!"

Jayden watched Mike rush back into the fray, sending forth a cascade of energy blasts from the Bullzooka. He looked to where Ji was struggling back to his feet, and caught a barely registered nod from him. Pulling out the Shark Attack Disk, he powered up into Shark Attack mode, rejoining his friends on the firing line.

Some distance away, Mia started to slowly come to. Kevin and Antonio were with her, and they were also starting to regain consciousness. She stroked her head, trying to get her bearings.

She remembered arriving to find Serrator about to execute Antonio. She remembered the brief battle, and she could remember a smoke bomb landing between them, but other than that, it was all a blank.

Looking to her watch, she realised that they had been unconscious for at least a full ten minutes. That was MORE than enough time for something bad to have happened to their friends. Before the gas had taken effect, Dekker was not far from the site of the main battle. She got to her feet as Kevin and Antonio joined her.

"Dekker's..."

"Gone." She concluded for the Gold Ranger. "Someone took us out to let him get away."

"Why would they want that?" Kevin asked. "And if we've been unconscious for ten minutes, why didn't they just take us out when they had the chance?"

"Those are questions that will have to wait." Mia replied, taking to heel and running down the path. "Dekker's got a ten minute head start. Come on!"

Back at the site of the main battle, Serrator was taking as much damage as he was dishing out. He couldn't do anything until Dekker arrived; all he could do was hold the Rangers off. They had, by now, taken care of his moogers, meaning they now had their sole attention on Serrator. He staggered as Mike hit him in the face with another Bullzooka Blast.

"Well, at least I know I have the right place." Dekker chuckled as he arrived, seeing Serrator fall to a knee. "Are you having a little trouble with the children?"

"Dekker! It's about time!" He snapped in response. Emily fired another group of Power Disks at him, but he caught them in a clawed hand, before throwing them back, causing a group of explosions all around them, forcing the Rangers to the ground. "Where have you been?"

"Thinking." Dekker answered, before holding out his hand. He looked to Serrator, smiling. "You promised me my sword."

"No!" Jayden called out, sending forth the Shark Sabre. Dekker though was too close to allow this to end now. He parried it with the Bane of Life, allowing Serrator to launch a lightning storm that sent everyone back to the ground in agony. The Rangers all de-morphed, all but completely spent. Even in this weakened state, Serrator's determination drove him to go on, despite his injuries. He held out the sword, offering it to Dekker.

"Here it is, just as I promised." Serrator grunted, holding it out to him. "Go ahead, take it!"

Dekker reached forward, taking the blade from him. He looked to it, inspecting it thoughtfully. He swung it back and forth, getting a feel for its weight and balance. Serrator watched for a moment.

"Well?" He asked. "I did as I promised! Now fulfil your end of the bargain!"

Dekker ignored him, continuing to inspect the sword. Serrator started to lose his patience.

"Your misery is stored in that sword!" He roared. "Do as I ask, strike open the fissure and end it all! YOU OWE ME!"

Dekker turned, and faced the stress point, causing all the Rangers to look up in alarm. This was the moment they were here to prevent, and now it looked like they were too late.

A little way off, Dayu was watching on in interest. She knew it wouldn't be long before the Rangers she had incapacitated would be making an appearance, and she needed to be there to prevent any interference. She looked to her right as a Gap glowed red and Octoroo appeared next to her.

"It's not like you to show up to battles." She commented.

"I wouldn't miss this for the world." He announced cheerfully, bringing out a bucket full of snacks. "Want some?"

Dayu just shook her head and turned back to the action as Octoroo just shrugged and began eating.

Dekker stood before the stress point, taking a few deep breaths. The Rangers on the ground were still a little way from being able to intervene. He raised up his sword, preparing to strike.

The Rangers all watched as he brought his blade down, and screamed, turning away as they prepared for the end. It wasn't to come though. Jayden looked up for a second, seeing Dekker swing around as he brought the blade down, and unleash a devastating strike across Serrator's chest. Serrator fell to his knees as energy erupted from him, and purple blood poured from the wound. He looked up to Dekker in shock.

"No, you..."

Dekker took the blade in both hands, and lifting a leg, drove the side of it across his knee, snapping it in two, tossing both pieces aside like so much garbage. Serrator just watched him do this wordlessly.

"We had a bargain, one which I know you had no intention of fulfilling." Dekker told him. "You see, the problem with playing games and manipulating others, is that sometimes they play the game better than you. They resent being pawns in the game, and start playing for themselves."

Dekker took out the Bane of Life, and drove it through Serrator's stomach, further weakening him. The deceptive Nighlock could only watch as he reached his hand into a Gap, his eyes widening as he saw him pull out the true Urumasa.

"I paid a little visit to Faslane." He informed him, showing him the sword as the other Rangers started to watch. Dekker drew the cursed sword from its scabbard, throwing the scabbard aside as he gripped the blade in both hands. "If you're going to do a job, you need the right tool for it."

Serrator started laughing as he heard this, seeing his centuries of work being undone in an instant. He had underestimated the pieces on his chess board. Now, he could only watch as Dekker raised Urumasa over his head.

"I had a life before, and you took that from me." Dekker told him. "You're right about one thing. I DO owe you!"

"You're as heartless as any Nighlock." He said, sounding almost impressed. Dekker smiled.

"From you, I consider that a compliment." Dekker told him, before bringing Urumasa down in a destructive arc, slicing straight through Serrator, cutting him from head to crotch in one stroke. Serrator's body sparked with energy as he flopped forwards, before exploding, ending his first life.

From their vantage point a little way off, Dayu had to try hard to contain her joy. Their plan had worked perfectly. Believing he had manipulated the situation exactly as he intended, Serrator had allowed Dekker to get close enough to strike the fatal blow. Octoroo just finished his snack, tossing the bucket aside.

"It couldn't happen to a nicer guy." He sneered. "Come back to the junk when you're ready to discuss our next move."

Dayu watched him leave, but opted to stay herself. She needed to see what happened now. This was when she'd find out if she really was within arms' reach of regaining the man she had loved for centuries.

Mia, Kevin and Antonio, arriving on the scene, could hardly believe what they saw. They helped the others to their feet as they all stared at him.

"Did...did Dekker just kill Serrator?" Kevin asked.

"I ended his first life." Dekker told them. "I owed him that much."

They looked to the skyline, seeing that the geysers of misery were all fading away, until they finally disappeared. The ground under their feet felt firmer, and the stress point sunk back into the earth, which seemed to fall in on it, almost like a wound healing itself. Jayden looked to Dekker.

"You helped us." He commented. "Why?"

"I helped myself." He corrected Jayden. "Serrator's mistake was in thinking I shared his hatred of humanity. Indeed, I rely on humanity. Only the human spirit has the courage required to create the warriors that satisfy Urumasa's hunger. I need humans to finally see my curse at an end."

He levelled Urumasa towards them, at which they all prepared to defend themselves. He had Urumasa pointed straight at Jayden, but after a moment, it strayed aside to Emily. He looked to her.

"Your sister, the Blessed Warrior." He announced. "Tell her she's welcome, and remind her that she owes me."

With that, he looked up, seeing Dayu standing on a ledge a little way off. He leapt away, landing on the ledge by her, and turning back to them, just in time for the Earth to start shaking.

"I trust you Rangers can deal with this." He commented, before turning to Dayu, looking to her. He tried to find something to say, remembering what the Gold Ranger had told him. In the end, he couldn't say anything. Dayu noticed the confusion and the frustration in him, and it filled her with hope. Unfortunately, Dekker still wasn't able to deal with what he couldn't understand fully yet. She followed him as he walked away.

The Rangers, however, had more pressing matters to worry about. Serrator's first life had been ended, and his geysers had all dissipated. His centuries of planning were now lying in ruins. As he grew to massive size, towering over them, he bellowed in rage.

"OK, now he's really pissed!" Mike commented. "Maybe Jayden..."

"Mike, I have full confidence in you." Jayden assured him. "You take the lead."

"Thanks Jay." Mike responded.

"Twin Papyrax!" Serrator screamed, creating two of his personal monsters. "If I can't have this world, I'll see it destroyed!"

"Right, we need to take this differently." Mike remarked. "Jay, you take the Bullzord. Antonio, the Claw Zord. Everyone else, join me in the Megazord!"

"I'll have Lighty join us for good measure." Antonio told him, taking it from Emily.

"Yeah, thanks for the loan." Emily stated as they all called forth their Zords.

"Technically you'd have to have asked for it to be a loan." He reminded her as the four zords got ready for battle.

Back at the Shiba House, Serena was in the yard, once again training with Kasamune. Now, more than ever she was desperate to get the damn thing to work. She had felt a sample of its power once, and she could feel what it was capable of, but so far, she was just unable to harness it.

She found herself flat on her back, yet again as she struggled to contain its power, before throwing it away in a fit of temper. Terry was quickly by her side.

"Screw this damned sword! It's caused me nothing but misery!" She screamed in frustration.

"Serena, you know..."

"Terry, do you realise that I've spent over a year chasing a legend?" She asked him. "For the Love of God, if I was meant for this, don't you think I'd have got it by now? For God's sake, Arthur only had to pull his bloody sword out a stone!"

"Serena, you have to do this." Terry assured her. "Please, it's not just about Dekker anymore. It's about all of us. Emily, Jayden..."

"Yeah, and they're all backing the wrong horse." Serena grumbled. Terry just got a bad-tempered look on his face and picked up Kasamune, thrusting it back into her hand.

"I've seen you use it before! I know you can do it!" He snapped. "Now think, what makes it work?"

"Don't you think if I knew that...?"

"Serena, you've used it before, now THINK!" He stated bluntly. "What were you feeling when you used it?"

She cast her mind back, remembering the brief encounter. She had gone to shield Terry, to try and protect him, only for armour to appear and protect her. She knew how she felt about Terry, but so far all thinking about him seemed to do was distract her.

It was then that she thought more deeply. Terry always tried so hard around the team to gain acceptance. He always seemed to be apologising and trying to make up for something. She knew that one of his major driving forces, despite the fact they were now closer and Mia had insisted she forgave him, was his guilt over not being there for her when she needed it. One of the things that drew her to him was the fact that he was aware of his failings, and did more than anyone else she knew to make up for them.

She then remembered what she had always been told about Kasamune. Unlike Urumasa, which was ruled by bloodshed, Kasamune was ruled by compassion. She had felt the need to defend him so he could continue to feel like he was making amends for his failings as a brother. She had done it so that he and Mia would have the chance to have the relationship she shared with Emily.

She got to her feet, closing her eyes, and started breathing deeply. Casting her mind back, she recalled the story she had heard at the Tengen Gate about Dekker and Dayu. She had been sold into slavery by her own father as a child. She and Dekker had been abused horribly as they grew. Dekker had fled his own home, the only home he had ever known, in search of a near-hopeless battle just so his father would see him as an equal. What had happened, the battle, the fire, all of it, was the inevitable end to a lifetime of abuse.

Spinning the octagonal Power Disk, she continued to keep her mind on what they had been through, imagining how she would have dealt with such a life. Her parents had never been anything but supportive. Her sister was her best friend as well as her sister. She had only ever grown up around love and acceptance. She couldn't imagine what it was like to be so alone, so unloved, so constantly afraid.

In a bright flash of light, Terry was temporarily blinded, and fell back onto his butt. He shook his head, clearing his vision, before looking back to Serena. His mouth hung open in shock.

"Terry?" She asked. "Terry, are you alright?"

"I am." He assured her. "But...you..."

Serena looked down, before her vision snapped back up.

"Terry?" She asked. He just nodded.

"Yeah, I think we can safely say you've got it." He answered, coming over and smiling brightly. "You've got this."

Back at the site of the battle, the Rangers were locked in a deadly battle with Serrator and his two Papayrax. The two monsters were smashed to the ground, just as the Claw Zord and Megazord rounded on them.

"Jay, you and Lighty just keep Serrator off us a moment longer!" Mike instructed him. "Antonio, you take the one on the right."

"Got it!" Antonio yelled. "Claw Battle Zord East! Armed for battle!"

"Alright guys, time to cut down the odds!" Mike announced, pulling the Mega Blade out of the console. "Power up, final strike!"

"Claw to pieces!" Antonio called out at the same time. Between the two Zords, the Papyrax didn't stand a chance. They both exploded, ending their threat once and for all.

"Alright, that just leaves you!" Mike announced as the Bull Zord staggered back. "Who says we step this up a notch?"

He pulled out the Combination Disk, knowing that this would be one of the few times he would ever get a chance to use it. Looking to Emily, he wished she could do this, but he knew that there were already worries about her considering how much the last battle had taken from her.

"Samurai Gigazord!" They called out together, forming into the Gigazord. Mike turned it to face Serrator, who was powering up an attack. He launched lightning at them, which sent a jolt through all of them, causing them all considerable pain.

"Mike..."

"Ultimate Samurai Strike!" He announced. They all lent their power, firing off a huge power blast that sent Serrator tumbling across the ground. He pulled himself up again, purple blood flowing from his mouth, and numerous wounds in his body as he snarled.

"You'll have to do better than that!" He announced.

"That...no Nighlock has ever survived that before!" Kevin stammered.

"Look at him; he's dead on his feet!" Mike stated. "We just need a little more power!"

"We still have one Zord left." Jayden reminded him, hitting the top of the Light Zord. He handed Mike the Shark Disk. "Go on Mike."

"If I'm going to do this, I'm going to do it right." Mike announced as he put the Shark Disk into the Black Box, summoning the Shark Zord. "Shogun Mode!"

Serrator was staggered by a strike from the Shark Zord while Mike powered up. He looked around the others.

"Alright guys, everyone wants this guy gone." Mike reminded them. "Let's give it all we've got!"

They channelled all the symbol power they had into the attack, powering up the Shark Zord blade, before it scythed down, right on top of his head. Split once again from head to crotch, Serrator stood as his power flowed from him.

"Twice in one day!" He complained. "I was so close, so..."

Before he could finish, he pitched backwards, exploding as he hit the ground. Mike pulled off his helmet, looking out over the battlefield as the others crowded around him. Emily hugged him particularly tightly, and he was only too happy to respond. After all the misery he had caused, after all he had done to the people they cared about, Serrator was finally gone for good.


	26. Serrator's Send-Off

Serena was resting up after her training with Kasamune. She still couldn't believe the power she felt when she finally managed to harness it. It was unlike anything she had known before. Now, she finally felt like she had proven her worth. She had tried a few more times after the first, just to make sure she had it down, but now she truly felt like she was ready for Dekker. For the first time in a long time, she felt like she had actually accomplished something.

Brenda came into the room, offering her some cocoa. Serena accepted it gratefully, with a little smile. She still felt completely drained, but now she was no longer fighting the power, it was having less of a toll on her.

"Is there any word from the others?" Serena asked her. She didn't know what had happened; they hadn't yet gotten any word from the others. So far, all they knew was that the massive energy geysers had disappeared. It wasn't hard to miss the fact that half a dozen energy geysers that reached up to cloud level had simply disappeared. The news only reported that the energy geysers had dissipated and that emergency services were working hard to clear the streets and find casualties.

Just then, the door opened, and the others came in. They were all clearly exhausted, and were carrying a few more injuries than before, but they seemed to be in good spirits. Mike in particular seemed elated. Brenda turned to the kitchen.

"Terry, get the first aid kit." She called through. "Alright, things went well?"

"I think we'll let the latest wielder of the Shogun Mode tell you that." Jayden answered, slapping Mike on the back hard. The Green Ranger looked to the others, but particularly to Serena. He put his arm around Emily and brought her over to him.

"Serrator's gone." He told her. Serena dropped her mug of cocoa, hearing this. She could hardly believe what she was hearing. Serrator had been in her nightmares for months. He had been the one to take Stephen from her. Now, he was finally out of her life for good.

"Are you serious?" She asked them. "He's not sealed or..."

"Mike finished him off himself. We all saw him explode." Emily told her as she released Mike and took her sister's hands, looking into her eyes sincerely. "He's gone Serena. He'll never be able to harm anyone ever again."

Serena fell back onto the couch, looking to the floor. She had always dreamed of this day, the day she would know that Stephen had been avenged, and that Serrator was finally made to pay for everyone he had hurt.

"Well, I did get a little help." Mike reminded her. "I would never have been able to do it without you guys, and Shogun Mode was pretty awesome."

"Not to mention Dekker." Antonio added. Serena looked up, hearing this.

"Dekker?" She asked. "What did he have to do with anything?"

"Well..." Mia started to say, trying to think of how to explain what they had all seen and heard. "I don't know the full story, but the sword Serrator had was a fake. At least, according to Dekker it was. He took Serrator down the first time."

"Wait, so...Dekker turned on him?" Serena asked them. Antonio nodded.

"Serrator stabbed everyone in the back. He betrayed and messed with everyone." Antonio stated. "I guess we can't be too surprised that it came back to bite him."

"Even Dayu was there to watch." Kevin pitched in. "I doubt anyone was too sorry to see him destroyed."

"I...I can't believe it." Serena gasped. "He's...he's really gone?"

"Unless he's found a way to come back from exploding, he's now a permanent resident of The Dark Zone."

"I just...he's really gone!" Serena murmured. She got up, and made her way over to Mike, throwing her arms around him tightly. Mike looked more than a little awkward at first. Although Serena had accepted him being in Emily's life, there was always a little distance between them. She was always quick to remind him that he was still the one trying to take her sister away from her. He eventually, awkwardly returned the gesture, holding Serena as she kissed him on the cheek, before holding him closely.

"Thank you." She whispered to him. "I...I don't know how I'll be able to repay you."

"Um...maybe back off on the big sister stuff a little?" He suggested. She parted from him a little way, and nodded as she wiped away some tears.

"I think I can manage that." She agreed.

"We have managed to deliver a huge blow to the Nighlock this day." Ji told them, holding Brenda in his arms. "With Serrator gone, and Xandred still in the Sanzu, the Nighlock are greatly weakened."

"But Dekker's still out there." Jayden reminded them. "Not to mention I'd never underestimate Octoroo."

"He is a tricky one." Kevin stated. "And what do you think Dekker meant by..."

"Kevin!" Emily called out. Unfortunately, it was too late. Serena just sighed and looked to her sister.

"What?" She asked. "What is it? What did he say?"

"When he destroyed Serrator the first time, he said to tell you, 'you're welcome'." Emily said with a sigh. "He also said to remind you that you owe him."

"So, he thinks he did me a favour?" Serena asked, realising where this was going. Dekker had made Terry promise that he would get to duel the Blessed Warrior if he survived his duel with Jayden. Now, he was considering his destruction of Serrator as being something Serena needed to repay. Now, he felt she owed him.

"Look, we can worry about Dekker when he turns up again. He always did operate on his own timetable." Kevin suggested as he went to the phone. "In the meantime, I doubt anyone's in a mood to cook. How does everyone feel about...?"

"We can have anything as long as they deliver calzones." Brenda rushed out. The others all looked to her, only for her to stroke her stomach. "What? You wouldn't want to deny the baby would you?"

"I love how you use that trump card so effectively." Ji said with a smile, kissing his wife softly. "Figure out what you want, and then make the call. I can't think of much better excuse to celebrate."

With that, Kevin got a pad, and started to take down everyone's order as they all huddled around the menu. As they did, Terry came over to Serena's side.

"So, he's finally gone." Terry whispered. "What are you going to do now?"

"The only thing I can I guess." She murmured. "I guess now I have to prepare for Dekker. I just have one thing to do first, and I'd appreciate it if you would help."

She got up and looked to the others.

"Terry and I are going out for the night." She announced. "Don't bother ordering anything for us; we'll get something while we're out."

"Where are you going?" Jayden asked.

"There's just something I need to do." Serena told them. "We'll be back by morning."

As they left, Emily just had a smug grin on her face. Mia just groaned.

"You're really not going to let me forget that are you?" Mia asked her.

"Nope." She answered honestly. "Not a chance."

Over at Central High School, Mal was doing some exercises for his knee as the kids checked up on the news. Eventually, Mrs Kaplan came into the basement, accompanied by a couple of police officers.

"Alright kids, the authorities have arrived, and they've informed me that the crisis has passed." She told them, almost being bowled over as a huge roar went up from the kids, who had now spent over 24 hours in the school basement. "Now, I know you're all eager to get home, but make sure you listen to the officers and follow any and all instructions they give you. I'll start calling your parents to let you know that you're coming home."

The kids got up, and started to file for the door. Melanie helped Mal to his foot, with some help from the coach.

Vicky made her way over to Spike, taking a few deep breaths to steady herself. Now the danger had passed, she knew that there was no more room for excuses. She had made the promise to herself that if they got out of the crisis, she would not chicken out anymore. Now, she had run out of excuses. She had made it through, and now she was going to have to make her move.

"Well, that was all pretty scary." She commented, coming over to him.

"It really was." Spike agreed. "At least it got us closer to the weekend. We only have Friday left."

"Yeah, that is a stroke of luck." She said, struggling to keep her thoughts straight. She started to shift a little more awkwardly. "Say, are you doing anything at the weekend?"

"Um...no, I don't think so." He commented with a shrug. "I guess I'm probably going to..."

"Maybe we could go see a movie?" She suggested. Spike looked thoughtful for a moment.

"You know, I think there are some good films on." He agreed. "I'll just go and ask the others..."

"Actually, I...um." She stammered, interrupting him. She could feel herself turning pink, and suddenly felt very warm. She shifted a little closer. "I actually meant, you know, just the two of us."

"Just..." Spike whispered, his mouth hanging open in surprise. He looked around, before looking back to her. "You mean, like a date?"

Vicky just stood, staring at him. She just couldn't say anything else. The words just wouldn't come out. She just nodded in response. She felt her heart stopping as she waited to see what he would say. Eventually, he just smiled at her.

"That would be great." Spike answered, looking more than a little stunned by the whole thing. "Yeah, of course, that would be great fun."

"Well...great!" Vicky answered quickly. "So...um...we can talk and figure out the details tomorrow?"

"I guess so." Spike stated. "Um...I should probably go and help Mal get his crutches back to go home."

"Yeah, you do that." Vicky told him. Spike stumbled a little, tripping over his own feet as he walked backwards away from her, before turning around. He couldn't believe that had actually happened. She had actually asked him out! Turning back to his friends, he took over from Melanie under Mal's left arm to help him under the stairs. Mal noticed the large, goofy smile on Spike's face.

"Hey, what gives?" Mal asked him. "We get to go home, you didn't win the lottery."

"No." Spike replied, imagining the weekend ahead. "It's even better than that."

Terry and Serena were driving down a road out of town. Terry had no idea where they were going; he just followed Serena's directions as best as he could.

He could see that an incredible weight had been lifted from her. Serrator was gone, Mike had repaid him in kind for every harm he had ever visited upon them, upon everyone for centuries.

"Pull up over here." She told him. Terry did as he was instructed, pulling off the road, and stopping a little way from the road. Serena got out of the SUV, looking to him. "Would you mind...you know...giving me a moment?"

"Take all the time you need." He told her, getting back in. Serena walked a little way, bending down to pick up a flower, and heading for a distinctive tree, with a split bark, and took a deep breath, before approaching it.

She had never told anyone what she did with Stephen's ashes. All anyone knew was that she had spread them while she was at her parents' farm. One day, she had taken one of the horses and ridden out to this spot. It was roughly half way between the farm and the Shiba House. She had picked this spot because it was distinctive, and she knew she would be able to find it again. She knelt down, laying the flower at the foot of the tree.

"Well, we got him." Serena began, speaking to Stephen's final resting place. "I'm sorry it took so long, but I promised he'd pay, and now he has."

She waited, almost hoping for an answer, even though she knew it would never come. She wiped her eyes as she tried to continue.

"I finally figured out your power disk." She told him. "Compassion, I guess I haven't felt too much of that lately. It's not like I've been particularly empathetic to others since...well...you know."

She stayed for a moment, trying to compose herself.

"Mike, he really came through." She stated a she looked to the flowers she had left for him. "Emily really got a good one there. I know I've given him a hard time, but he's really shown me what he's made of. I know Emily's going to be fine with him."

She then took another deep breath; she got back to her feet.

"I should probably be getting back now." Serena said as she tried to straighten herself out. "No doubt Terry thinks I've completely lost it, talking to a tree. He's...he's definitely interesting. I think you'd really have liked him."

She took one last look at the flowers, before turning and walking away. She didn't say goodbye, she had done that before. That wasn't what this visit was about. This visit was to let Stephen know that he could rest in peace, that his death had been avenged. Getting back to the SUV, she got in, sitting back in the seat silently for a moment. Terry just looked at her.

"Stephen?" He asked her. She just nodded wordlessly. Terry knew she would need a moment, so he didn't start up the engine right away.

"At least you don't think I was talking to a tree." She commented. "By now, I doubt you're in any doubt I'm kind of messed up."

"We're all a little messed up." Terry assured her. She reached across, taking his hand in hers and looked to him, and leaned across, kissing him softly on the cheek.

"Thank you for this." She said gratefully. "I really appreciate everything you've done."

"You're welcome." He told her, reaching for his seatbelt. Serena did likewise, fastening herself in as Terry started up the engine, preparing to take her back. Serrator was gone, but there was still more to be done. The war wasn't over yet.

Back in the Netherworld, however, Octoroo returned to the Junk alone. He was in an awkward position now, knowing that he didn't have it in him to take down the Rangers alone, but he couldn't help smiling, knowing that his plan had gone off without a hitch. Serrator was now gone, and the Netherworld was safe.

He now only had one concern on his mind. With Master Xandred gone, all he could do was hope that he could keep the Rangers lulled into a false sense of security. With Xandred still incapacitated, if the Rangers concentrated on the sealing symbol, it was possible that he and all the other Nighlock would be sealed away forever, without anyone having a chance to stop them. With Xandred gone, this was now the perfect time for the Rangers to end the war before anyone could bring enough power to bear to defeat them.

However, Octoroo knew something the others didn't. Something he had figured out some time ago. He already had his plan in motion. Alone on the ship, with the exception of the Furry Worts, he doubted Dayu would be back. She was too busy following Dekker around, trying to help him break his curse. It was pathetic, but at least it would keep her out of his way.

"Well, Dayu, you don't know how helpful you've been." He chuckled. "Keeping an eye on you has been far more educational than you will ever know."

He looked out over the Sanzu, and felt the power of knowing that at present, he alone ruled everything.

"Soon, I'll be able to end the threat of the Samurai once and for all." He exclaimed. "The Red Ranger may think he's been so clever, but I already know the secret he has hidden behind all this time. Now, it will be that very secret that hands me victory, and Xandred's eternal gratitude. Enjoy yourselves for now Rangers, while you still can."

Fin.

**A/N:** Well, the end of this story. There will be more soon, covering Halloween, and maybe a little down time for the Rangers while we wait for the new episodes to air.

I apologise to anyone who has been spoiled, I genuinely didn't WANT to do it, but I felt that making everyone wait for two weeks to resolve the cliff-hanger was just too evil. I did post warnings, and hope that they helped those that wanted to wait on the episode.

I won't be spoiling any further episodes, and hope that those that did read this story enjoyed it.


End file.
